Lights in the Dark
by LoonRider
Summary: Aria Victoris is a citizen of the Crown City; one who happens to befriend a bespectacled member of the Crownsguard. As the war with Niflheim reaches its peak and the Starscourge spreads through Eos, how will this relationship grow? IgnisxOC. Rated T for violence.
1. Prologue

**Okay so I may have been reading a lot of chocobros headcanons lately and I may have fallen slightly in love with everyone's ideas of how Ignis would interact with an s/o. So, naturally, I turned it into a story opportunity! Woot woot!**

Spoilers: Will slowly work its way through the entire game, so expect spoilers for all significant events. This will start long before the game, though, and switch perspectives between Ignis and Aria when I deem it fit.

#

Funerals were a confusing matter for children, and for young Aria it was even moreso; her father had died as one of many, and while all were being honoured at this ceremony, she knew only one really mattered to her. She stood at her crying mother's side as her father's torn Crownsguard jacket was presented to her, and when the ceremony was over, she walked among the citadel grounds trying to absorb the reality that her father was never coming home.

It was supposed to be a simple trip. Her father had been assigned to guard Prince Noctis, but there had been a daemon attack. No one but the prince himself had survived, and he and the king were in Tenebrae. To facilitate the prince's recovery, her mother had told her. She also told her that Aria should be proud of her father for dying in the line of duty.

"Don't see how I could be proud of him for dying at all..." the young girl muttered, kicking a stone across the grass and pulling on her shoulder-length, chesnut hair. Her mother had pulled two of the front sections back into braids for the occasion, but they were already coming loose.

She didn't quite notice that the rock she'd kicked had bounced off someone's shoe, or that the someone in question had heard her mutterings. So when he appeared at her side, she jumped, so startled she almost forgot to listen to him when he spoke. "The way someone dies does matter... but I imagine it's difficult to see when it's this fresh."

A brow was raised at the bespectacled boy, but then she dropped her eyes. "Yeah, I guess/"

He seemed about to say more, but then Aria's mother's voice came from behind her. "Aria! It's time to go."

"Coming!" She turned back to the boy, offering a nod. "Bye."

"Goodbye, and I'm sorry for your loss."

Halfway to turning away, she paused, managed a sad smile. "Thanks."

And she ran back to her mother to return to their now too-empty home.

#

Yeah, Aria's dad was one of the guards killed when Marilith attacked Noctis as a kid. I was deliberately vague for her age here because the sources I find can't seem to agree on how old Noct was at the time of the attack.


	2. Market Meeting

**And onward we go. These first chapters are largely set up, so apologies if they seem a little boring. The timeline is also vague as all get-out because that's how I roll and will continue to roll until we get into the actual in-game events.**

#

Replicating this dessert was becoming less a hobby and more a challenge. Ignis studied the fruits in the market stall, testing for ripeness and trying to guess which one was the best bet for his next experiment.

"The macintosh are great this time of year."

He looked up, expecting to find the stall's keeper in front of him, but she was off to the side with another customer. Instead, he found a young woman at his side, one hand clutching a few bags of goods while her other twisted the end of a long chestnut braid around it. He straightened to address her. "Are they?"

She smiled, gesturing to the apple variety she was speaking of. "Yeah. Yolanda gets them from an orchard not far from the city, and this time of year they ripen up really crisp. I always buy a bunch." Her honey-brown eyes returned to him. "Sorry, you seemed to be having trouble making up your mind."

One hand straightened his glasses, and he allowed himself a smile. "I suppose I was having some difficulty. Thank you, I believe I'll try them for my next endeavour." He hadn't tried macintosh apples yet, after all. His eyes returned to the girl beside him, though, narrowed slightly. "I'm sorry, but have we met before? You seem familiar."

A blink, and she leaned closer to him, not quite in his personal space. Just as suddenly as she'd moved forward, she moved back and snapped the fingers of her free hand. "We have! You're one of the prince's attendants, aren't you? I used to be around the citadel sometimes. I think the last time we talked was at my dad's funeral."

The memory clicked. He remembered attending the ceremony and being preoccupied with thoughts of Noctis' condition, but seeing the grieving girl had pulled him out of it enough to attempt to comfort her. He'd seen her a few times after that, as the families of lost guardsmen were always welcome at the citadel, but that had been their only real interaction. "Of course, I remember you. I never did properly introduce myself, at the time." Not that he'd had the opportunity to. Still, he moved one hand to his chest and bowed slightly: a formal greeting. "Ignis Scientia, my pleasure to meet you."

For a moment, all she did was stare at him, and he wondered if she wasn't used to court protocol. Then she grinned, giving the approximation of a curtsey despite wearing pants. "Pleasure's mine, Ignis. Name's Aria. Aria Victoris." A chime interrupted further conversation, and she pulled her phone out to take a look at it. Her eyes widened. "And I am so, so late!' Dodging past him, and almost taking him out with her shopping bags, she jogged a few steps away before glancing over her shoulder. "Nice meeting you! You should let me know how the macintoshes go over!" And then she was off.

He watched after her for a few seconds, and couldn't help but smile. Her energy reminded him of Prompto, though she was more restrained. He turned back to the stall keeper. "Excuse me, I'll have a dozen of these macintosh, please."


	3. Work and Play

**So something I never got in FFXV was how Insomnia seemed to operate on a totally different currency than the rest of Eos. I mean, why else would Prompto ask what a gil was? He's the common-born of the group, so he should KNOW. So I'm operating on the assumption that Insomnia has its own currency, for reasons still pretty unknown to me but there y'go.**

#

Aria pulled her sniper rifle closer to her shoulder, counting down in her mind the seconds her teacher had given her to the time he'd be in position. Her backpack lay on the ground beside her, unzipped and showing the indents where each piece of her ranged weapon went. On her back was the double-sheath harness for her two double-edged, black blade battle swords. The hilt of the right blade was just in her peripheral vision as she settled her hand around the trigger. Her targets, five sahagin that had been terrorizing fishermen along the riverbank, milled about a good ten feet from the water's edge. It was the best chance they'd gotten since they took this hunt.

Three. She closed one eye to focus down the scope.

Two. She took a breath and held it, steadying her body.

One. She squeezed the trigger.

The first shot took one sahagin in the lowest part of its throat, tearing a clean through-and-through hole that spurted blood instantly. The second shot hit its startled companion in the shoulder and lodged in the scales there. They were well and truly agitated now, and from the rocks to their left burst Caedus, the man decapitating the throat-shot sahagin with a single swing of his katana. He squared off with the one with the shoulder wound, and Aria knew the time for sniping was up. Drawing her blades, she lept from the bushes and lunged for the nearest uninjured beast. It swing to face her, teeth snapping, and she dodged aside, bringing her left sword down at its neck, gouging the scales on top but not quite cutting all the way through. It screeched in pain and swung its head around again, this time sinking teeth into her left calf, just above the tough leather of her boot.

A cry ripped from her as the beast yanked her leg out from under her, rolling with her leg still locked in its jaws, mangling her flesh. She kicked hard with her free leg, swinging her right sword down to try and hit the beast's snout. Its jaws loosened, and she yanked her wounded limb free, twisting around on her right leg to bring both swords down on the previously made wound, finishing the job.

Caedus had dispatched the one he'd been facing, and now confronted the last two. She cracked a potion open over her wound, letting the healing fluid stem the bleeding and ease her pain before picking her swords back up and rushing to her teacher's side. One sahagin turned to her, snapping its jaws, but she side-stepped and caught it hard in the chin with an upward swipe. As it staggered, she slashed her other sword through one eye and jumped onto its back. Holding on with her knees, she drove both swords through its neck, ending it.

"Not bad." Caedus' voice drew her eyes up, where he was withdrawing his sword from the chest of the last beast. He wiped it down with a cloth before sheathing it. Then he looked at the creatures she'd killed and the wound on her leg. "Your first shot was excellent, but the second one was sloppy. The more injury you can do from a distance, the better your odds when things get up close and personal." He gestured to her calf. "And that. Always keep an eye on where a critter's teeth are gonna go. You lose the use of a leg, you're that much closer to dead."

"I know, I know..." She headed back to where she'd left her rifle, only a slight limp to her stride as she wiped down and sheathed her own blades. She heard Caedus sigh behind her.

"For someone who knows so much, you sure ain't showing it." He pulled a piece of jerky from his satchel and began chewing. "I'll grant you're less likely to die than when you started, but that ain't sayin' much."

"Gee, thanks." She knelt, disassembling her rifle and carefully putting the pieces back into their slots before swinging her bag onto her back and buckling the single strap over her vest. "So what next?'

"Those were the last beasts giving people trouble in these parts. Tell you what, you can go back home for a while. I'll give you a call when there's work that needs both of us."

Smiling, she toyed a bit with the dog tags that marked her as a hunter. It had been a month since she'd been back to Insomnia. "Thanks, Caedus."

"Don't mention it, kid. Now let's go collect the pay for these brutes."

They pulled chocobo whistles from their pockets, calling their rented mounts to head back to civilization.

—

Aria had to say, riding a chocobo across the open wilderness was a lot more fun than taking a cab through Insomnia. That wasn't to say the Crown City wasn't beautiful, because it was breathtaking. But there was something about open-air riding versus the enclosed area of a car. Plus, it was raining, the precipitation coming through the magical Wall to soak the streets of the great metropolis. It hadn't started raining until she'd gotten close to home. What a welcome.

As the cab pulled in front of her mother's weapons shop, Aria dug through her bags to find the right currency to pay the driver (why King Regis didn't switch the capital to gil, she'd never know). That done, she grabbed the saddle bags taken from her chocobo and hopped out, jogging through the parking lot to get into the two-storey building, wedged into so many other shop-home combinations among one of Insomnia's many commercial areas.

The old-fashioned bell over the door jingled as she pushed it open, and she smiled at the familiar sound. "I'm home!"

Her mother, Sabine, raised her eyes from where she was wrapping a sword up for a customer. "Aria! Welcome back." She handed the newly-wrapped package to the customer. "Remember, if it gets roughed up, you can bring it back here and have it fixed!" She waved as the older man left.

Aria carried her saddle bags to the stairs behind the counter and dropped them to give her mother a hug. "Missed you."

"Missed you too. You can tell me all about the new hunts tonight." Sabine looked down, and frowned at the mangled state of her daughter's pantleg. "Are you okay?"

Aria waved it off. "Just fine, Mom, don't worry. Caedus already lectured me about keeping both eyes on my opponents."

"And how're your swords? Actually, don't answer. Just set them out back and I'll sharpen them up for you."

"Mom, I can do it."

"Come on, Aria, allow me this one thing."

She couldn't help but smile. "Alright, you win, but I get to clean my gun." She unbuckled her gun bag and set it next to her saddle bags before undoing her harness and carting it into the back room. While she was in there, she heard the bell jingle again, and her mother's greeting to a new customer.

"Welcome!"

When Aria emerged back into the shop proper, she was surprised to find a familiar face browsing the wall of polearms. "Well, look who it is." The last she'd seen him had been a week before, in the market, but he wasn't hard to recognize.

Ignis turned from the weapons, and his brows rose as he caught sight of her. "Hello. I didn't expect to find you here."

She chuckled, shook her head. "What, you think some other person in this city would be living in a shop called Weapons Victoris? C'mon."

He smiled. "Fair enough."

Sabine looked between the two of them. "Oh, you know each other? This gentleman is one of the Crownsguard, Aria, show a bit of respect."

"Please, it's not necessary." Ignis lightly waved off the admonishment. "The marshal recommended your store to me last month, so I come by now and then to see if anything catches my eye."

Aria nodded. She'd only met Marshal Cor a few times, but she knew he'd been friends with her father. "Well, he's got good tastes. Mom only stocks the best weapons around." She paused, her eyes flicking between the man in front of her and the shop's front window. "Hey, I know the weather's crap, but you wanna go get coffee? I'm dying for caffeine."

She received the extreme satisfaction of her mother sputtering in disbelief behind her, and even Ignis' eyes widened a bit behind his glasses. It took only a moment for his composure to recover, though, and after another moment, he nodded. "It'd be my pleasure. I know a fine cafe in this area."

Well, that was unexpected but totally not unwelcome. Aria grinned, bouncing behind the counter again to give her mother another hug. "I'll be home before dinner, promise!" And then she was out again and making her way to Ignis. "... Hm, are we cabbing it or do you actually have a car?"

His smile was still on his face. She wondered if he was laughing at her on the inside."I availed myself of a vehicle today, don't worry."

"My kinda guy!" She would have high-fived him if it wouldn't have led to a lecture from her mom on proper etiquette with the protectors of the royal family. As it was, she just grinned, gave her mom a wave, and followed Ignis out of the shop.

The first thing he did was circle around to the passenger side of the car, parked just in front of the shop, and open the door for her. She couldn't help a bewildered blink, but the rain was coming down hard, so she smiled her gratitude and took a seat, letting him close the door once she was in.

By the time he'd made it around the car and got into the driver's side, she already had her seatbelt buckled and was eyeing him curiously."So where are we off to?"

"What, and spoil the surprise? I can say that I will honour your promise to your mother and return you home in a timely manner. Beyond that, my lips are sealed."

His tone was so damn formal, she had a hard time guessing if he was kidding with her or not.

—

It turned out their destination was only half an hour away, a little cafe on the first floor of one of Insomnia's many skyscrapers. She hadn't been in this area much, mostly because it was largely offices of big businesses and such. Not the kind of place she frequented.

She let herself out of the car before Ignis could get to her door, and he compromised by opening the cafe door for her as the two of them entered. The smell of fresh coffee and pastries assaulted her, and she breathed deep. "Damn, that's nice."

Ignis raised a brow at her, and Aria only shrugged in reply to his apparent shock. Right, he probably wasn't used to such language. Oh well. The two of them ordered (Ebony astoria for both of them, a slice of chiffon for Ignis and a slice of devil's food cake for Aria), and she caught Ignis reaching for his back pocket. "Nah, don't worry about it. This was my idea, so let me get it." She fished out her own wallet from her vest. "I just got paid anyway." She had yet to go to the bank and properly convert her gil over to local, but she had enough to cover their snack at least. As he opened his mouth to argue, she waved him off and tapped her card against the scanner. "Don't worry about it."

He shut his mouth, and for a moment she couldn't read his expression, but then he smiled and nodded. "Much obliged."

"Like I said: my idea, my treat." Collecting their drinks and snacks, Ignis led her to a corner table and they sat across from each other. The first thing Aria did was take a whiff of her coffee and grin to herself. "Man, this is one thing I always miss when I'm on the road."

He raised a brow at her, taking a sip of his own drink before speaking. "You travel for work?"

"Yeah." She held out her dog tags on their chain for him to see. "I'm a hunter. I bring some of the cans with me, but I'm garbage at brewing my own and it's always awesome when it's hot."

"I see." He glanced down to where she had her legs crossed, her left sticking out from under the table. "So what happened there?"

Following his gaze to her still-torn pantleg and the faint bloodstains thereupon, Aria grimaced. Probably should have changed. "Got on the wrong side of a sahagin... not that they have a right side." She cut a bit of cake off with her fork, lifting it to her mouth and unable to contain a little noise of delight at the taste.

Ignis frowned. "You should probably have that properly looked at. Potions are fine in the field, but they don't prevent all infection."

She waved her fork about a bit, swallowed before answering. "Yeah, I know, Caedus gives me that a lot." A pause, then an addition, "That's my teacher. We work hunts together so he can show me the ins and outs. I'm hoping to be able to go it on my own in another couple months."

"A worthwhile goal." He smiled, cutting a bite of his own cake so delicately she didn't even hear a clink when the fork cut through.

"Thanks, but why're we only talking about my job? Yours is more interesting. Personally attending the royal family? Come on, you've gotta have juicy stories."

He raised a brow at her over his coffee cup. "I suppose that's one way to say it." Setting the cup down, he leaned back. "My duties aren't near as exciting as people seem to think. To be perfectly honest, you'd probably find my day-to-day work quite dull, compared with your hunting."

Another bite of cake delayed her answer, and she was still holding her fork as she answered. "Mm, maybe, but I bet you've got dirt on the prince. I only met him a couple times, when I was a kid."

Now a little smile curved his lips. "Perhaps I do, but I try not to spread tales of Noct's embarassments to the general public. He does that well enough himself with the paparazzi."

It was her turn to raise a brow. "Noct?" she echoed.

He shrugged. "A nickname from those of us who know him well. I've known him since we were both children, after all."

"Oh yeah? And does he have any nicknames for you?" He wasn't so composed that she missed the bit of colour that came to his cheeks, and she smirked, watching him adjust his glasses before he answered.

"A few."

"Oh, come on, you can't leave me hanging. I swear I won't laugh... much."

"Very kind of you." She doubted he could've put more wry sarcasm behind that sentence, but he continued anyway, "It's nothing dramatic. He's called me Specs since we were young, for obvious reasons. More recently he's taken to... 'Iggy', thanks to a mutual friend of ours."

The snort she let out was definitely un-ladylike, and she was lucky she'd finished her drink of coffee before he'd spilled that one. "Hah! That's awesome. I guess even princes can be cheeky."

His smile was affectionate as he ate the last piece of his cake. "You have no idea."

"Maybe I'll get to meet him again sometime. Mom and I have a standing invite to the Citadel, since Dad died." The mention was casual. Her father's death didn't hurt the way it used to, but there was still a sting in her heart as she finished off her own cake.

"Noct's living on his own right now, but perhaps you'd have the fortune to catch him on one of his visits there." He pushed his chair back, looking at the window. "It seems the weather's cleared up. Are you ready to return?"

She followed his gaze and blinked. Hadn't realized how much time had passed. "Yeah, sure." Chugging the last bits of her coffee, she got to her feet and followed him out of the cafe, allowing him to open the car door for her.

—

The return trip was largely silent, though when he pulled up to the shop, she paused to look at him. "Hey, wanna give me your cell number? Could use someone to hang out with when I'm in the city."

His smile was a little too indulgent. "Somehow I doubt you have difficulty making friends..." He pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. "But certainly."

Once they had each other in contacts, he got out of the car and moved around to let her out. She let him, stepping out with a smile. "Thanks for indulging me."

"My pleasure, and thank you for the coffee." He gave a small bow to her after closing her door. "Do get that injury looked at, as well."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, setting a rule here: you don't get to mom me until at least the fourth date." And she started for the door while he was still staring at her. "See ya later."

#

I dare anyone to tell me it wasn't Gladio that started the Iggy nickname.


	4. Worry

**And now I get to write the other chocobros! Well, one of them anyway. Setting this story to slow boil was a necessary but sigh-worthy decision.**

#

Ignis moved through the citadel's halls with memorized ease. The latest meeting had just wrapped up. He had his notes under his arm and was heading for one of the practice rooms to get in a bit if exercuse before going out to visit Noctis.

He made sure to focus in meetings, but now his thoughts were elsewhere. In the months since running into Aria at the shop, he'd seen her quite a few times: sometimes going to the cafe or other little-known gems of his choosing, sometimes going to her favoured spots in the city. Which at one time included a shooting range where he'd thoroughly embarassed himself until receiving a lesson in firearms from her.

He found himself looking forward to these excursions. She was a pleasant person to be around, though rougher than he was used to. So when she'd texted him that morning saying she was going out of the city for work, he'd wished her luck and warned her to be cautious. But now he worried, and it was ridiculous. Aria was capable. They'd even sparred once, and she'd proven herself more than good in his eyes. But the war with Niflheim still raged, and he worried she'd go too far from Insomnia to be safe.

"Hey, Iggy!"

He nearly jumped, managed to contain his surprise and turn to find Gladiolus Amicitia striding towards him. "Gladio. Is something wrong?"

The big man waved a hand. "Nah, you just looked a little spaced out. Meeting not go well?"

Ignis managed a shrug. "No worse than usual. The state of affairs with the empire is rocky as ever." And getting worse by the day, it seemed, but he was used to such concerns.

Gladiolus seemed to know it, too. "Then what's on your mind?"

... No harm in telling him, he supposed. "A friend of mine, a hunter, went out of the city for her work. I'm just hoping she doesn't get into trouble."

The Shield's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. "You made friends with a hunter? A girl?" Ignis didn't know if he should be offended at how surprised his friend sounded, but Gladiolus continued before he could comment, "Well, if she's a hunter, she should be able to handle herself, right?"

"More than able," Ignis agreed, though he was still not at ease. Shaking his head, he decided to change the subject. "Anyway, did you hear? His Majesty is holding a press conference next week to discuss the latest battles of the Kingsglaive."

To his gratitude, Gladiolus accepted the change. "Yeah, I heard. Think Noct's gonna come?"

He frowned. "I'm not sure. I'll be telling him about it tonight, so he may well, but who knows."

"He's taken more interest in his studies lately. Maybe he'll be too busy." Gladiolus fell into step with him as he resumed his trek. "It's not often he gets to see his dad lately, anyway."

A sidelong glance. "The same is true for you, isn't it?"

The Shield frowned, one hand scruffing through his hair. "My dad's always busy. I get to see him when we're working, but that's about it."

Ignis nodded. The burdens of working for the royal family were heavy; it had been a while since he and his uncle had gotten together, as well.

Gladiolus was watching him again. "You were gonna train, right? Want some company?" A smirk played across the scarred face. "Or you too busy with lady troubles?"

Ignis didn't dignify the tease with a response, instead entering the gym. He summoned his lance as he turned to face his friend. "Company would be most welcome."

—

Training was always good for clearing the mind. As was caretaking his eternally-wayward friend and charge. After his visit with Noctis, in which the prince admitted he hoped to attend the press conference, Ignis finally made his way back to his apartment to wash up, having cooked and eaten dinner at Noctis' place, with the heir's help. At least he hadn't destroyed any more frying pans.

He stepped into his bedroom and slipped into his pajama pants, and then he glanced at his phone, sitting on his night stand. He should turn in, but... he reached for the device and flicked to Aria's text conversation. Hesitating for only a moment, he began to type.

 _'How are things going?'_

He set the phone back down and sat on his bed, propping his back against the pillows and headboard. He tried reading, but only got through a few pages before a beeping alerted him to a response and the book was abandoned on the stand in favour of the phone. It was Aria, of course.

 _'Fine so far. Took out a voretooth pack and made camp at a haven. You up to anything interesting?'_

Interesting? Well... their definitions of interesting probably varied. He shrugged to himself.

 _'Plans for a press conference next week. Nothing much otherwise. I'll let you get some rest. Take care.'_

The response was immediate.

 _'Sounds like a lark. You take care yourself. Nightnight :)'_

A small smile formed. He really was being ridiculous by worrying about her. Plugging his phone in to charge, he slid under the covers and let himself drift off to sleep.


	5. Fanatic

**Tumblr is so full of ridiculously cute headcanons for all these boys, I enjoy reading everyone's thoughts on them. Now we're getting into a bit of the nitty gritty of this early fic! All too close to the game timeline now.**

#

"Whose bright idea was it to have this thing in the morning?" The sleepy mumble was Noctis, standing next to Ignis as the two of them watched the esteemed press members enter the courtyard of the citadel.

"The king's," he answered, unable to keep a bit of exasperation from his voice. How Noctis could sleep until noon (or at any time of day) was beyond him. He was always up at, or even before, the crack of dawn.

Noctis mumbled something about his dad being allergic to sleeping in, but it was drowned out by cheers as the doors of the citadel opened and King Regis himself stepped out. Ignis nudged the prince towards his place, standing behind his father's podium, before taking up his own position as part of the guard between the press and the royal family. It was unlikely that something was to happen in the heart of the city, but the Crownsguard didn't believe in taking chances.

King Regis raised his hand, and the din of the press and the commonfolk beyond quieted. Ignis recognized Prompto milling about in the front of the common area, camera in hand. Not a surprise that the prince's best friend wanted to be around. Ignis returned his attention to scanning the crowd.

"Thank you all for coming out this morning," began Regis, his strong voice carried by the microphone. "It's my great honour to address you all on the matter of the ongoing war..."

Ignis knew the full details of the reports the king was giving in cliffnotes versions to the people. He couldn't help tuning out a bit in favour of focusing on his duty. Gladiolus was stationed further back, closer to Regis and Noctis in case anything happened. Other members of the guard were scattered throughout, some positioned between the common area and the press, others between the press and the podium area.

Something caught his eye. There was a man in the common area who seemed unconcerned with the speech. He was wearing a bulky vest even though it was unseasonably warm out. As Ignis watched, he began to work his way towards the front of the crowd, elbowing people out of the way if they didn't move for him.

Two of the Crownsguard positioned at the boundary of the common area moved to block his intended path. He broke into a run. One hand reached for something inside his vest. Something clicked in Ignis' brain. "Gladio, get them back! Now!"

He didn't look to see if the Shield was listening. The man had burst past the two guards and was shoving his way through the press. Ignis started to move to intercept, just as he recognized a switch in the man's right hand. He summoned a dagger, prepared to throw. The man saw him. For a moment their eyes met: Ignis' wide with sudden realization, the man's wild with desperation.

He watched the switch's button click down, and then the world erupted. Heat and force blasted him full in the face even as he was nearly deafened by the sound of it.

By the time the screaming started, Ignis was already unconscious.


	6. Fear and Fury

**Hope I didn't scare anyone with that last one! The first part of this chapter takes place in sync with it, of course, as it was being broadcast live.**

#

Aria and Caedus sat in the diner at Hammerhead, having purposely timed their hunts to be back here in time for the press conference. There wasn't a TV, and the signal was too bloody awful for either of them to use their phones to tap into the live video feed, but Takka had the radio cranked up for the whole place to hear, and Aria was barely sipping her drink for paying attention. She was sure Ignis was there, standing guard over the king and prince. Even though she couldn't see him, she could picture him in that Crownsguard uniform, standing perfectly at attention like the duty-bound nerd that he was.

The thought made her smile. She was barely listening to the king's speech.

Then there was an upset. The reporter Takka was tuned to let out an alarmed cry, and Aria heard someone shouting close enough to the microphone to be heard, but too far away to be understood.

And then there was an explosion.

The radio went dead, nothing but static. The few patrons of the diner went quiet. Cindy, who'd taken a break from her work to come in and listen, broke the silence. "Wh-what in tarnation was that...?"

Aria heard, but she wasn't paying attention. Her face had blanched white, her blood was ice. Ignis was there.

"I'm going back!" She didn't give Caedus time to answer her, on her feet and out the door before the echo of her words had died off. She reached for her chocobo whistle, but hesitated, pulled out her phone instead, fingers flying across the screen.

 _'What the hell happened?! Are you okay?'_

She practically punched send, shoved her phone back in her pocket and blew her whistle. Her chocobo, having been foraging just outside the outpost boundaries, was at her side in an instant, and she jumped on his back.

 _You'd damn well better be,_ was her only thought as she kicked the bird's sides and was off at a sprint for Insomnia.

—

Checking her phone while on the back of a sprinting chocobo wasn't easy, but she'd been doing it every few minutes. Ignis hadn't answered her, even in the several hours it took her to get to the gates.

With her citizen ID and a bit of arguing, she got past the gate guard and into the city proper. Getting a cab was a little harder, but she convinced one to take her as close to the citadel as was currently allowed. After that, she ran headlong into another round of guards. A particularly big guy in a riot mask stepped forward to block her path. "Sorry, ma'am, all traffic into and out of the citadel area has been restricted."

For the love of all things... she grit her teeth, resisted the urge to reach for her swords. "Come _on_! I'm the daughter of a Crownsguard! I need to get in there!"

The daughter thing softened his gaze, one hand raising to placate her. "Ma'am, I understand you're worried, but I have orders."

She stepped back, looked at her phone again. Still nothing. She looked back at the guard. "Look, I'll leave my weapons behind. I'll submit to a search... _please_."

A long moment passed. She didn't let him break eye contact with her. Eventually, he reached to touch his comm. "Commander, there's a woman out here. Her father's in the Crownsguard. I'm stripping her of weapons and sending her in... Yes, sir... Understood." He looked back at her. "Leave your weapons with us. Someone inside will be able to explain details to you."

No need to tell him her father was dead and thus not the one she was afraid for. "Thank you."

Unbuckling her bag and harness, she handed them off to him. After checking her for any hidden weapons, he waved her through, and she bolted for the courtyard, not even bothering to ask how she'd get her weapons back.

Finding the danger zone was easy. There were dozens of emergency vehicles all around. Paramedics, police, Crownsguards, firemen, the whole nine yards. Bodies were being carried away, people were being tended to. Someone had just started to approach her when she spotted the one she needed to see. He was sitting on the back gate of an ambulance, a bandage around his head. "Ignis!"

She started forward, but the guard approaching her placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ma'am, hold on a moment..."

But her voice had drawn Ignis' attention. He called across the courtyard, "It's okay, Joxin. She's fine."

The hand was withdrawn immediately. "Yes, sir!"

She was at his side in an instant, not touching him, just standing and staring, looking him over for any more injuries. His clothes were roughed up and he had several more scrapes and bruises, but there was no blood seeping through the bandage on his head, and he seemed coherent enough. "Are you all right?"

A weary smile and a nod. "I'm fine... why are you back here? Shouldn't you still be working?

Now her worry twitched into frustration. "I was! Until something fucking _exploded_ and you didn't answer your _phone_!"

He blinked. "My phone..." There was a second or two of fumbling before he located the device. The screen was shattered, the housing cracked. It wouldn't even turn on. "It's broken."

She ran her hands down her face, exhaled. "Of course it is. You got blown up." One hand stayed at her face, pinched the bridge of her nose, her eyes closing as she let out a tiny, absurd chuckle. "Gods, you were worried about _me_ , and then _this_..." Eyes opening again, she noticed that the left lens of his glasses was missing, the frames bent.

He put his useless phone back in his pocket. "I'm sorry, Aria... I was knocked out by the blast. When I awoke, there was so much to do..." He lifted his hand, moved it towards her just slightly before shifting direction to touch the bandage around his head. "I didn't think you'd be so worried."

Yeah. Neither did she, now that she was calm enough to actually think about it. Still, she managed to smile. "Yeah, well, surprise." She looked around, taking in the devastation, the scorched ground, the bodies... She looked back at him. "So what happened?"

"There was a suicide bomber among the crowd... I saw him, and managed to warn Gladio in time, but I couldn't stop him from detonating..." His gaze slid away from her, over the bodies now being loaded for transport. "Ten dead, not including the bomber... more than a dozen injured."

She held off on asking who 'Gladio' was, guessing he was another of the Crownsguard responsible for the king and prince not being in the vicinity. Instead, she focused on the look on Ignis' face, the tone of his voice. He felt guilty. She touched his shoulder. "It would've been a lot worse without you."

His eyes returned to her, and he offered a weak smile. "Thank you."

Any further conversation was interrupted by the approach of a young blonde man, and Aria pulled her hand back to herself in time for the new arrival to clap Ignis on the shoulder, albeit lightly. He was smiling. "Hey, Ignis! Glad you finally got that looked at." He gestured to the other man's head injury. "I mean, I know you had work to do, but man that looked like it hurt." And then he looked at Aria, and his smile faltered a bit as he eyed her up and down. "... You don't look like a doctor."

She raised a brow. "That's 'cause I'm not. I'm a hunter."

Ignis interceded, lightly patting the blonde's arm before gesturing to her. "Prompto, this is Aria Victoris. She's a friend. Aria, this is Prompto Argentum."

Ohhh. Aria nodded, recollections of candid newspaper shots entering her memory. "Oh yeah. You're friends with the prince, right?"

A grin lit up Prompto's face. "Yeah, me and Noct are pals! ... Speaking of, you sure he's okay, Ignis?"

"Quite. Gladio assures me both Noct and King Regis are perfectly well. Noct's worried about _us_ , as it were. I've assured him that we are both in tact." Ignis gestured to the radio comm in his ear, which somehow still worked... probably because it was small enough to be more durable than his phone.

"One of us a bit more than the other, huh." Prompto eyed Ignis' head injury with obvious concern, but after a moment he looked away, towards the burned ground. "... Why d'you think he did it?"

Aria grimaced, crossing her arms. "People do crazy shit when there's a war tearing their life apart."

"Indeed." Ignis nodded. "There are refugees displaced to Insomnia who blame the king for not protecting their homes from Niflheim... I wouldn't be surprised if the bomber was one such person."

"But it's not the king's fault!" burst out Prompto, swinging his eyes back to them before gritting his teeth and looking at the ground. "It's the Nifs, ruining everything they touch..."

" _We_ know that, but there's always gonna be people blaming the easy target," Aria answered, shaking her head. She'd met the same kind of refugees Ignis spoke of; there was usually no convincing them that their grievances were the fault of the empire.

Prompto looked ready to answer until there was a chimey song from his pocket, and instead he pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen before flicking his finger to answer. "Hey, Gladio... Yeah, he's with me... Okay, sure thing. See you in a minute." He hung up and turned to Ignis. "Gladio wants us both in the castle."

Ignis nodded, getting to his feet as he looked at Aria."You'll have to excuse us."

"Sure. Go do your job." She smiled, but the expression faltered as something occured to her. "Oh yeah... Ignis, I left my gear with the security detail. Think you can call ahead and make sure I can get it back on my way out?"

He blinked, and she shrugged. She'd been in a hurry, too much so to worry about who she was leaving her weapons with. After a moment, he nodded. "Of course, I'll see to it. And I'll be in touch."

"You'd better be." She grinned, giving him a light pat on the shoulder before turning to head out, though not before she heard Prompto's poorly-whispered question behind her back.

"Sooo... is she your girlfriend or something?"

She didn't hear Ignis' reply.


	7. A Chance at Peace

**I was** _ **this**_ **close to titling this chapter 'Give Peace a Chance', but I stopped myself. You're welcome. Getting into near-game events now!**

#

The Empire had denied responsibility for the attack, of course, but Ignis was inclined to believe them. It just wasn't Niflheim's style to send a single attacker in such a desperate gamble. The man had been identified from his shattered remains: a refugee, as Ignis had surmised, known for speaking out against the king. The case had been closed, and months had passed.

His bandage was gone, the scar from the wound barely visible. He'd gotten off easy compared to other victims, since there had been so many people between him and the explosion. The thought made him grimace. There had been a public ceremony for the dead: nine members of the press and one guard. The king had given a speech, and sent personal condolences to the families. He's also personally thanked Ignis for his quick action, which he'd accepted as graciously as possible.

But he wished he'd acted sooner.

Reports that the empire had made a full retreat after winning a battle against the Kingsglaive did nothing to help his mood. Something was going to happen. Something big.

He found Gladiolus where he knew he would: out on one of the citadel balconies, taking some air. The tension in the other man was visible. "Gladio, you wanted to talk?"

Gladiolus turned to face him. "Yeah. My old man told me we had a visitor this morning while Drautos was reporting... an envoy from the empire."

Ignis' eyes widened. "And?"

The Shield threw his hands out, helpless confusion. "And apparently the Nifs want to make nice. Dad said they're offering a peace treaty... cede all lands except Insomnia itself to the empire, and marry Noct to Lady Lunafreya. The king and the advisors are conferring as we speak."

"... What?" was all Ignis could summon to say. He moved to lean on the railing, clasping his gloves hands. "What could this mean?"

"I dunno, Iggy." Gladiolus leaned next to him, shaking his head. "But I got a feeling it's gonna get complicated."

—

And complicated it did get. Barely had the king accepted than Ignis, Gladiolus, Noctis, and Prompto had been summoned before him. They'd been given a mission, and as Ignis walked away from the citadel's main doors to prepare, he was trying to figure out if this whole thing was too good to be true.

As he descended the stairs, he felt his phone, brand new and paid for by the Crownsguard (along with his new glasses), vibrate against his hip. Right, there were other matters to consider before this trip. He was only slightly surprised to find a message from Aria when he looked at the screen.

 _'So is there seriously peace happening or have I finally lost it?'_

He smiled as he moved to type a reply.

 _'Your mind is sound as ever. The king has truly chosen to accept peace with the empire.'_

He made it to his car and was just getting in the driver's seat when his phone went off again.

 _'Glad we cleared that up. So... what the hell?'_

For a moment he considered going to her, talking about what was going on and what he had to do. They'd been seeing each other more often since the attack, even though she'd left for a few weeks in the interim to do her job. It was tempting... but preparations had to be made.

 _'May I see you tomorrow? I'll explain what I can.'_

He sat in his car, waiting for a minute until his phone chimed with her reply.

 _'Sounds good. Come by the shop around noon.'_

 _'Of course.'_

And he couldn't help smiling again, though this time with a twinge of sadness. Now it would be his turn to be gone for a while. Shaking his head, he started the car and headed for home.


	8. A Temporary Goodbye

Aria dusted the sword rack for the fifth time that morning. She'd cleaned nearly every inch of the shop in her effort to find an outlet for her nervous energy in the hours before Ignis would show up and tell her what was so important. The customers had been few and far between, mostly regulars who wanted to talk about the upcoming treaty rather than buy anything. It didn't surprise her; this was the biggest news in Insomnia, and everyone had something to say about it.

For her part, she wasn't sure how to feel. Ceding all the lands outside the city to Niflheim... she had friends out there. Her whole job was based on being out of the city. But at the same time, the war had claimed countless lives, and to see it end... She tossed the dust cloth aside and rubbed her forehead. "Politics are dumb."

"But necessary," her mother answered from behind the counter. Sabine had been occupying her time by polishing and sharpening Aria's battle swords. Aria knew it gave her mother comfort to know the weapons, once belonging to her father, were in top condition to aid her in battle. The level to which she was caring for them today told Aria that Sabine was just as unsure of the treaty as she was. Still, the elder woman didn't show it, instead smiling at her daughter. "Isn't Ignis coming to see you today? Why don't you get ready?"

Aria waved off the concern. "Don't think he cares about a bit of dust on my clothes, Mom. I'm ready now."

The bell over the door jingled. "Well, that's good to hear." Ignis smiled as Aria turned to face him.

"Were you just waiting for me to cue you in or what?" she asked, a wry smirk on her lips.

He almost looked affronted. "No, I only just arrived." He turned to her mother, ever the gentleman. "Mrs. Victoris, might I have the pleasure of your daughter's company for a while?"

Sabine smiled. "Of course, Ignis. Not like I could stop her even if I wanted to."

"Oh c'mon, I listen to you. Sometimes." Aria grinned at her mother before sidling over to Ignis. "So, you said you'd explain."

"Of course." With a last nod to Sabine, he led Aria out of the shop and to the car, opening the door for her as usual before circling around to get into the driver's seat.

As he started the car and pulled from the parking lot, she studied his face. He was as hard to read as ever, but she could still tell something was up. Something personal.

The drive was silent, and she let it be. She watched out the window as the landscape of Insomnia passed them by. Skyscrapers, little nook shops, the cafe they spent so much time in...

When he pulled into the lot for one of Insomnia's larger parks, she followed him out of the car and across the grass to a little deck that overlooked a man-made pond. They were mostly alone, a few kids were feeding grapes to the pond's ducks on the other side, but no one was near them. And finally, one hand on the railing of the deck, Ignis spoke. "I'll be leaving the city for a while."

She blinked. Not how she'd expected this conversation to start. "Why's that?"

Ignis turned to her, his expression business like, though there was something in his eyes that belied the look. "As you know, a tenet of the treaty is that the prince is to marry Lady Lunafreya. His Majesty has decided that the wedding should be held in Altissia, and has asked that I, along with Gladio and Prompto, escort Noct there to meet his bride."

"... Okay." She stood next to him, leaning against the railing. "Why Altissia, though? If the treaty's gonna be signed here, why not have the wedding here too?" She had to assume that the marriage would mean the Oracle would probably be living in Insomnia when not on her travels, after all. But Ignis only shook his head.

"The king didn't say. I also don't know how long we'll be gone, but..." He paused, gaze sliding away from her as one gloved hand rose to brush through his hair, stopping at his neck to scratch.

"... But?" she pressed when he didn't continue.

His hand returned to his side. "But I wanted to talk to you before we left tomorrow. I wanted to... see where we stand."

"In a park," she quipped, though immediately grimaced when she saw the frown that crossed his face. Not the time for jokes, then. She shrugged, looking out at the water. "Well... I don't know, Ignis. You've got a duty to attend to, but... y'know, when it's done..." She shrugged again. "I'm not really going anywhere."

That brought a smile to his face. "I suppose not." He followed her gaze out across the pond. "I won't pretend this trip will be easy, but I'll do all I can to see this treaty fulfilled."

She watched him from the corner of her eye. His face perfectly combined apprehension and determination, now, and she wondered if he knew how obvious he was being. Or how handsome, because damn, the way the noon sun hit him was just gorgeous.

And this would be his first time out of Insomnia? Now she frowned. Ceasefire or not, the lands outside the city weren't exactly safe. She had the scars to prove it. Pulling away from the railing, she turned to him and stepped close to his side, wrapping her arms around his waist. She felt him stiffen, but didn't let him go. "Y'know... I know you Crownsguard are taught to protect the prince above all else, but... make sure to take care of yourself too, okay?" One man in her life dying far away for a noble cause was quite enough for her.

Ignis stayed still for a few seconds, and she wondered if she'd overstepped the boundaries. But just as she was about to let him go, he moved, his arms rising to encircle her, one hand against the back of her head to cradle her to his chest. "I've no intention to do otherwise," he murmured against her hair.

She drew back just slightly and tilted her head up at him. He leaned down in response, and their lips brushed in the most chaste of kisses. When he smiled at her, she couldn't help smiling back, leaning into his chest once again and squeezing her arms around him. "Good. 'Cause if you die out there, I'll kill you myself."


	9. Rocky Starts

**And now we're into the game itself! Readers beware, here there be spoilers!**

#

This was ridiculous. Ignis leaned back in the driver's seat and heaved out a sigh. It was his second turn being in the car, having just spent a stint pushing it down the road before switching out with Gladiolus.

"Are we there yet?" Prompto groaned from his place on the outside of the passenger door.

"Less whining, more pushing," Gladiolus growled back, upper body practically parallel to the ground in his exertions to keep the Regalia moving.

"I believe that's Hammerhead in the distance," Ignis answered, glancing at the gunman before looking back ahead of them. He could just make out buildings. "At our current pace, we should be there within the hour."

"The _hour_? I don't think I can take that much more of this..." Noctis cast a baleful glance up towards their destination, but he threw his strength into the car with that much more force. The end being in sight seemed to lend him at least some energy.

Ignis was about to comment when his phone chimed, and instead he fetched it from his pocket (it wasn't texting and driving when the car was being pushed, was it?), not surprised to find Aria's name attached to the message.

 _'How's the road trip?'_

He glanced at his three friends before answering.

 _'Ask me again once the car's actually running.'_

"Are you _texting_?" Noctis was staring at him, still pushing the car but not with nearly as much force as before. Ignis pushed his phone back into his pocket.

"And your point? You were playing King's Knight during your turn in the car." Another chime, and he checked his message, feeling like he'd made his point.

 _'LOL seriously?'_

He sighed, but before he could type his reply, he heard Prompto's voice, "Who's he texting, Noct?"

About to admonish him for being nosy, Ignis was interrupted by the prince. "Someone named Aria... wait, you're texting a girl, aren't you?"

"It's rude to spy on someone else's phone, Noct." He cast a glare before returning to typing.

 _'Yes, seriously. Remind me not to let Prompto drive again for the rest of this trip.'_

"Prompto, he's blaming the breakdown on you."

"Noct!"

"What, seriously?!" Prompto's outburst came in the same second as Ignis', but the blonde chose to carry on. "It totally wasn't my fault!" He sent a pout Ignis' way, even though Ignis was immune to his puppy dog eyes... which the blonde seemed to remember, because in the next second he grinned. "Oh yeah, and Aria _is_ a girl. She came running all the way to the citadel that day Iggy got hurt."

"Your hunter friend?" Gladio joined the conversation from the back of the car. "Hah! You guys must be serious if she was that worried about you. Didn't know you had it in you, Iggy."

Now this was getting ridiculous. "I won't indulge any of you in this." He made sure to shield his phone from Noctis when next it went off.

 _'Okay, don't let the chocobo-head drive.'_

He couldn't help but smile. Prompto's hair did somewhat resemble the crest of the common yellow chocobo.

 _'I meant remind me later.'_

 _'I know you did :3'_

"Why're you hiding it from me?" Noctis interrupted the attempt at a reply, leaning over the driver's door to get a better view, which Ignis refused to give him.

"Because it's a private conversation, and _you_ should know better."

"He's flirting with her! Fliiiiirting!" sang Prompto, and Gladiolus chuckled.

"Or maybe she sent him something naughty."

Ignis' cheeks burned at that one. The only pictures he had of Aria in his phone were perfectly innocent, damn it. He glared at all three of his friends before returning to his phone.

 _'You'll have to excuse me. I seem to be in the company of children and cannot text in peace.'_

He had a feeling she'd have laughed at that one, even though she'd only met Prompto.

 _'Lol got it. Text me when you're actually on a road trip instead of a walk trip.'_

He shoved his phone back into his pocket, and did his best to ignore Gladiolus laughing behind him. "She _definitely_ sent him something naughty."

"Shut up," Ignis mumbled into the hand that was futilely trying to cover the blush in his cheeks.

—

By the time they got to Hammerhead, the others had given up teasing him, though he was under no illusions about escaping the mockery entirely. At the moment, their financial problems were more pressing, and Cindy deigned to have them solved by sending them after giant scorpions and a wayward hunter, who in turn sent them after a massive Dualhorn.

He found himself wondering how Aria did this for a _living_.

Still, by the time they got back, the Regalia was ready and looking far better than when they'd dragged her (and themselves) into the outpost.

After agreeing to run a delivery for Cindy, Noctis expressed doubt over his ability to handle the car, and Ignis was back behind the wheel. So it wasn't until they pulled into Longwythe, near on to sunset, that he got the chance to stretch his legs. He turned to the prince. "It's getting late."

Noctis nodded. "Yeah... guess we could just crash at the hotel here." He crossed his arms, glanced out at the road. "Didn't get very far today, did we."

"That happens when the car breaks down two hours into the trip," Gladiolus sighed even as Prompto veritably skipped over to the motel manager's window to book them a room.

—

After dinner, the four of them collapsed into bed: Prompto and Noctis in one, Gladiolus and Ignis in the other. Noctis was out pretty much instantly, Gladiolus not far behind him, but Prompto stayed awake with his phone on, and Ignis recognized the quiet sounds of King's Knight. He was probably harvesting before bed.

He leaned against the heardboard and pulled out his own phone. Aria had texted him about an hour before.

 _'On the road again?'_

 _'Yes. Sorry, I was driving.'_

 _'I figured. Try not to ruin the car again, huh? ;)'_

 _'I'll do my best. Actually, we've become amateur hunters. We had to do a few jobs to pay for the repairs.'_

 _'Jobs? Didn't the king send you out with some gil?'_

 _'Unfortunately not.'_

There was a long wait for her next reply, though the indicator that she was typing came on almost instantly. Finally, he got a response.

 _'LOL OMG that's amazing. Crown prince of Lucis, heir to the throne... can't pay to fix his car LOL'_

 _'... Glad you find this so amusing.'_

 _'Lol c'mon it's hilarious.'_

 _'Didn't seem so at the time.'_

 _'Guess not. But hey, hunts are great. Bet you could get some great ingredients out in the wilds.'_

That had never even occured to him. He knew a few recipes that made use of wild meat and vegetables... it was an interesting prospect.

 _'I suppose I could. May well go on a few more hunts on our way to Galdin.'_

 _'There see, they're great. I gotta go though, getting up early to help in the shop. Talk to you later.'_

 _'All right. Good night, Aria.'_

 _'Night, Iggy.'_

A wry smirk curved his lips. It wasn't often that she used his nickname. He set his phone aside and settled down under the covers. On the other side of the room, he heard Prompto doing the same. "So, you gonna buy her a souvenir in Altissia?" the gunman asked.

Ignis blinked, though a faint smile stayed on his face. "Perhaps."


	10. Tags

**This is kind of a bonus chapter that wasn't initially planned to be in the story. I got the idea when thinking about the dog tag quests Dave assigns. Enjoy!**

#

"Hell... looks like they found another one." Dave's expression clouded over as he opened the envelope they'd brought him.

"Wait. Found another what?" Prompto stepped closer, not quite trying to peek.

"Tag," Dave answered, gesturing to the dog tags around his neck. Ignis remembered Aria showing him the same type of tags when telling him her profession. "Us hunters keep 'em on our person at all times as identification."

"What, in case you forget who you are?" Prompto's question made Ignis grimace, but Gladiolus spoke first.

"More like so no one else forgets who they were."

Dave nodded. "Hunters lead a life of danger. Sometimes, these tags are the only things that make it back in one piece. It's our job to deliver 'em to the families of the fallen. As it were, I came out here to do just that. If ya'll happen to find any tags lying around out there, would you do me a favour and send 'em my way?"

"... Yeah, sure." Noctis' voice had gone soft, the prince clearly affected by what they'd been told.

Even as Dave went on to tell them the rumour that someone had seen a set of tags in the area, Ignis had tuned out. It was hard to name the feeling that had settled into the pit of his stomach... but it was something close to dread. His mind had no trouble conjuring an image for him: holding a set of tags with Aria's name on them, the only thing left of her. The idea made him ill.

A hand touched his shoulder, and he turned to find Gladiolus looking at him, making eye contact. "Those tags are pretty heavy stuff."

He let one gloved hand brush Gladiolus' in gratitude even as he nodded. "They certainly carry emotional weight. We'd best find and return them."

"And give the families peace of mind..." Prompto, too, had clearly been affected by the talk. He glanced at Ignis, seemed about to ask something, but was distracted when Noctis headed off towards the diner to ask the owner about the rumour.

Ignis was grateful for the distraction.

—

It didn't take long to find the tags, after killing the sabertusks who had likely been responsible for the hunter's death. Or that was what Ignis told himself; it felt good to think they may have finished the deceased hunter's job as well as avenged their death. They returned the tags to Dave, and promised to keep an eye out for any others.

It was Prompto's suggestion that they take on the other hunts the diner's proprietor told them about. Ignis had to guess that Prompto, and the very agreeable Noctis, wanted to lower the odds of another hunter losing their life, at least in this area.

They hunted all day, and by the time the sun was setting, there wasn't quite time to get back to Longwythe. Instead, they made camp at a nearby haven, and Ignis cooked dualhorn steak before settling into his camp chair to enjoy the meal and the fire.

Noctis and Gladiolus opted to clean up, and Prompto was fiddling with his camera, occasionally showing off a photo he was particularly proud of to the others. Ignis took his phone from his pocket in what he was sure would become a regular nightly routine.

 _'I didn't realize the significane hunter's tags carried.'_

It was a few minutes, Gladiolus and Noctis returning to sit around the fire, Noctis dragging his chair over to Prompto's to view the photos, before he got an answer.

 _'Found some tags out in the field, huh?'_

 _'Yes. The head hunter here asked us to keep an eye out for them.'_

 _'Dave? He's a good guy. Beats himself up a bit much over the tags though. Caedus and I have brought a few to him. Sucks every time.'_

 _'I can imagine.'_

After sending that, Ignis hesitated, began to type again, stopped, deleted it. Started again, deleted again. He didn't know how many times this repeated before Aria began typing in turn.

 _'Dying on the job's a risk for every hunter. Mom's worried to me about it a lot, and Caedus gave me a long talk about it before I started studying under him. I'm aware of it, but it's not like I go out ready to die. It's the same for you in the Crownsguard, isn't it?'_

He blinked as he read, not having thought of it that way. He smiled as he typed his answer.

 _'Yes, I suppose it is.'_

A click and a flash distracted him. He looked up to find Prompto's camera pointed in his direction. The blonde grinned. "Now _that_ one I'm keeping."

Noctis nodded, and Ignis recognized that gleam in the prince's eye. "Very photogenic."

Gladiolus had moved to stand behind Prompto's chair, leaning over to view the picture. "Oh yeah, I like it."

"Like _what_?" Just what had he looked like to amuse them all so much? "Let me see that, Prompto." He got up and moved around the fire, though Prompto was up out of his chair in a second.

"Iiii don't think I should!"

"Prompto!" Ignis lunged, but the gunman danced away from his hands. Gladiolus and Noctis laughed.

"No way, Iggy! This one's too precious!"

"Get back here!"

The night ended with several rounds of ring-around-the-fire while Gladiolus and Noctis were nearly on the ground in hysterics. And Ignis never did get to see the damn picture.


	11. Shattered Peace

**Thanks for all the reads and reviews, everyone! Rest assured, I'm reading all ofthem! Hope you all enjoy this one. Hopefully you've all seen Kingsglaive, but I'll try to keep the references to it minimal.**

#

The day of the treaty signing, Aria got out of bed later than usual. Her mother was opening the shop when she got downstairs, and her sword harness and gun bag were waiting on the counter. She stretched, glancing at her mother. "You sure you wanna open today? I mean, not like anyone's gonna be in..."

Sabine nodded. "I'm sure some of the regulars will be in, and I'll have the broadcast of the signing on the radio. You go enjoy your training, dear, and be sure to watch the signing if you can."

Strapping on her bag and harness and pocketing her wallet, Aria nodded. "Sure thing. I'll see you when this peace is all fine and done." She hugged Sabine and headed out the door, hailing a cab to take her to her usual gym. She could've walked there in five minutes, but she felt like saving her energy for her workout.

Aria entered the doors to find only one person behind the desk. She waved to him as she changed her shoes and headed for the practice room. "Morning, Athys. Gonna have the signing on the exercise room TV?"

"You know it," he answered with a grin. "It's not for a while yet. I'll let you know when it starts so you can come over."

She grinned. "Thanks." And she pushed open the doors to the practice room, which was blissfully empty.

Moving to the centre of the mirror-walled space, she drew her swords and held them ready at her sides. She steadied her breathing, raising her right sword above her head to begin her practice maneuvers, stepping in easy time to her routine. Practicing alone was relaxing, unlike sparring against a partner. She loved feeling the weight of her weapons as they swung through the air, counterbalanced by each other perfectly.

It was the best way to spend her down time.

—

She'd lost track of the hours by the time Athys came in when she was halfway through her push-up routine. To his credit, he wasn't distracted by the fact that she'd discarded her shirt was was working out in only her sports bra and yoga pants. "The Emperor's cars are pulling up," he reported.

Standing up, she moved to the side of the room to grab her shirt, towel, harness, bag and water bottle. Taking a swig, she nodded. "Cool, let's go watch history." She wiped the worst of the sweat away before pulling her shirt on, carrying her bag and harness as she headed for the door.

When they entered the exercise room, no one was on the machines, all clustered around the large flat screen on one side of the room. The music that usually ran through the speakers was replaced by the announcer from the TV, which was showing the inside of the conference room as dignitaries filed in.

"Can't believe it's finally happening," mumbled Hauter, an older man who'd been coming to the gym for longer than Aria had.

"Yeah," Athys agreed, his eyes glued to the screen as the dignitiaries rose. Emperor Aldercapt, leader of Niflheim, entered and took his seat. Athys frowned. "Where's the king?"

Aria, too, frowned at the screen. "Maybe he wants the emperor to wait a little."

"Maybe he needs time to convince himself not to wring the rat's neck," said Tara, a spunky woman Aria's age who'd been displaced to Insomnia when Niflheim invaded her home. Hauter grunted his agreement

They didn't have to wait long. Soon, King Regis entered with his retinue and took his seat beside the emperor. The announcer was speaking of hope and joy, but Aria's eyes were on the two rulers, having a murmured conversation that seemed to have captured their attention entirely.

"The treaty is now on the table. The countdown begins to this historical moment..." the announcer reported.

Athys leaned forward. And then all Hell broke loose. The windows of the conference room shattered, the king's magical arsenal appearing out of thin air. The camera cut to outside the citadel, where smoke was spreading and citizens were running pell-mell away from the screen they had previously been watching.

"What the hell!?" Hauter cried just as the camera feed cut out.

"It was a trick..." whispered Tara, her face white. "Gods, the damn Empire set us up!"

Aria couldn't find words. The heart of Lucis, the centre of their city... and the enemy was right in the middle of it. Shit, there were _Imperial enemies_ in her _home_!

She threw her water bottle aside, donning first her harness and then her bag as she buckled both before turning to the others. "All of you, get ready to evacuate! Tell whoever you can to get the hell out of the city as fast as possible!"

Athys recovered first, nodded. "But what are you gonna do, Aria?!"

Good question. Take things one step at a time. "I've gotta get my mom."

She was dialing her phone as she got out of the gym. People were already coming out of buildings, worried and confused. "The empire's betrayed us! They're attacking the city!" she shouted to whoever could hear her. "Gather what you need and get out of Insomnia!"

Her mother picked up. "Aria? Aria, what's going on!?"

She grit her teeth. "It was a trap, Mom. It was all a trap. Listen, stay at home, pack a bag of essentials as fast as you can. I'm on my way." And she hung up, looked around. No sense in trying to get someone to drive her there.

She started running, pushing her body for all the speed it could muster. If she hurried, she could make it there in less than three minutes.

Halfway home, the people around her suddenly gasped and screamed. Aria stopped, looked around, and then followed everyone's gaze upward.

What she saw almost stopped her heart.

The Wall, the magical barrier that had protected their city for so long... shattered. Pieces of it fell like glass before disintegrating as if it had never existed. Insomnia was exposed. And there, over Insomnia's outer districts... Imperial dreadnoughts.

She had to hurry.

—

By the time she reached the shop, smaller airships were descending on the city. Aria nearly broke the door down in her hurry to get in, finding her mother standing there with a small pack on her shoulders, her face pale but determined. The first thing she did was pull her daughter into a hug. "Aria!"

"I'm okay," she assured her, disengaging from the embrace. "But we've gotta move it. Magitek troops are already landing." And she'd never hated living in the inner city more than now. They had a long way to run.

Sabine nodded, grabbed a sword from the nearby rack. She wasn't professionally trained, but she'd been taught by her husband. Aria knew it was better that they both be armed. She managed a smile. "Let's go."

They exited the shop to screams. Magitek troopers were swarming out of an airship nearby, six of them, most wielding polearms while one bore the standard of Niflheim. Aria watched as the man who ran the butcher shop two doors away from them was cut down.

Her battle swords practically lept free of their sheaths, and she charged. The offending trooper went down in her first double-slash, its chest missing two huge chunks. The standard-bearer went down next, her swords driven through its head.

The others recovered, and she blocked a swinging lance with both swords in an X-shape, pushing it down to trap it beneath one foot and cut its wielder's robotic arm off. Transferring both swords to one hand, she picked up the lance and threw it straight through the chest of another one. She decapitated the one she'd disarmed, and lunged for the last two, impaling one on each sword before they could get their long weapons into position.

She found her mother by the butcher's side. Sabine shook her head. "He's gone."

"... Damn it," Aria hissed, sheathing her blades. Another airship was headed their way. "Come on." She pulled her mother to her feet and they set off once again.

A few blocks of running later, they were in an industrial district. Smoke billowed from a power station nearby, the bodies of workers scattered here and there. Aria grimaced. "They're taking out the lights..." She looked up at the sky. It was going to be dark inside an hour. "They're gonna leave us to the daemons..."

They continued on, Sabine turning a corner ahead of Aria, and then freezing.

As Aria was rounding the corner, she felt her mother's hands on her shoulders in a hard shove. "Get down!"

Gunfire. The stone of the building's corner shattered. Sabine cried out. Aria's eyes widened.

"MOM!"

Sabine fell, and Aria reached out, braving the gunfire to drag her mother back around the corner of the building. "Mom? Mom!?"

There was no question. The bullets had torn through her chest. Sabine Victoris was dead. Aria's whole body shook. A shadow fell over her, and she looked up. A Magitek gunner, the weapon in its arm levelled at her face.

She seized the sword her mother had dropped and swung. The entire front of the gun's barrel came off, and she ran the machine through with her next attack, kicking it away. Her eyes swept the area, desperate for another target, but there was none. The gunner had been split from its unit.

Aria dropped the sword, fell to her knees by her mother's body. Slowly, reverently, she slid her arms under the body and shifted it just enough to pull the shredded, blood-stained pack away from the torso. Mostly essentials, like she'd told her mother to pack. Clothes torn from the bullets, food destroyed... and at the very bottom, a little box of jewellery, to be sold for money. She took the box out, placed it into the extra pocket on her gun bag.

Then she folded her mother's arms across the woman's chest. Her eyes fell on the wedding ring, the twin to the one her father had been buried wearing. If an Imperial soldier came across it... she slid it from Sabine's finger, unclasped the chain of her dog tags, and slid the ring onto it before clasping it again. The ring clinked against her tags, and Aria reached down to brush her fingers, bloody from her contact with Sabine's body, through her mother's hair. "... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Her vision blurred. She clenched her teeth, whole body shaking again as she fought down the emotions threatening to choke her, focused all of it into anger instead. "You bastards... you _bastards_..." She looked up, towards the edge of the city, through all the buildings and streets she'd have to fight her way past. "I swear, every Imperial between me and out is _dead_!"

—

The sun had set, and the night brought terror with it. Aria was halfway to the bridge when a building a block away from her _exploded_ from what she swore was an aerial strike, sending out a shockwave that knocked her down hard. Fortunately, the goblins she was fighting had similar difficulty, and so her fall wasn't a death sentence.

One of them lept on her before she could get up, but she put both feet into its chest, launching it off her so she could decapitate it. Its last friend went down a second later, and Aria took a moment to clean and sheathe her swords before leaning over, hands on her knees. She'd been at this for over an hour. Every other block, it seemed like something wanted to kill her.

She had no idea what was going on anywhere else in the city, besides a lot of explosions, so when a truck came screaming around a nearby corner and almost took her out, it was a bit of a shock.

Diving to one side, she rolled to a crouch as the truck came to a stop. More enemies?

The door opened and a middle-aged man stumbled out, rushing to her. "Are you okay?! I didn't see you!"

"Hard to see anything when you're trying to break the sound barrier," she said, unable to hold back her sarcasm for as tired as she was. "You headed for the bridge?"

"Hell yeah! I'm not stayin' in this city any longer than I have to! Damn Nifs..." He clenched his fists, and Aria had a feeling she wasn't the only one who'd lost a loved one today. Shaking that thought from her head, she eyed the truck.

"Care for some company? I can fight anything you can't run over."

After a second, he nodded. "Sure. My name's Claus."

"Aria. Wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Claus."

"You and me both. Well... c'mon then." He climbed back into the driver's seat, and she moved around to hop into the passenger side. No sooner had she buckled her seatbelt than Claus slammed the gas pedal down and they tore off towards the nearest exit ramp.

The road slanted upwards, climbing towards the main thoroughfare that ran around the outside of the city. It gave them a better view... of the massive _monster_ storming through the far side of Insomnia. Aria stared out her window."Gods... is that a daemon...?"

"Be my guess," Claus answered, focusing more on the road (to his great credit). The beast was a horrible counterpoint to the calm night sky, angry red glowing from crevices in its body as its shoulders parted, unloading a veritable artillery strike on the city. None of the missiles came close to them, but Aria watched in horror as they rained down.

She tore her eyes away from the sight, stared at her lap. Her hand moved involuntarily to the chain around her neck, fingers running over first her dog tags and then the stone of her mother's wedding ring.

The Six help any Nifs that crossed paths with her.

—

The closer they got to the bridge, the more cluttered the road became: debris and bodies and overturned vehicles. It got to a point where they had to abandon the truck, but by then there were more people on the road, all looking ragged and torn up, some injured, all fleeing. Claus and Aria joined the general throng, making their way out of the Crown City as a battle raged behind them.

Aria looked around. She recognized no one in the crowd around them... some people were setting up emergency lights and tents. She turned to Claus. "The daemons will still be out in full force until the morning. I suggest staying here where it's safer."

"And what'll you do?" he asked, his eyes flicking to her weapons.

Her jaw tensed, and she looked out over the wild wasteland. "... I have a few ideas."

Home or no home, she was still a hunter. And she was in the mood for killing.


	12. Pieces

**I should mention that due to my changes, some of the dialogue may change from its in-game counterpart when I actually write out scenes that were in the game. I guess you'd all expect this, but thought I'd point it out so no one gets confused.**

#

Galdin Quay was a beautiful place to be stranded, Ignis had to admit. Still, he hoped Dino could sort out travel plans for them. Being stuck didn't sit right with him.

While he walked down the pier, stretching his legs, he noticed a fuss around the shop stand... people were milling about, leaning over each other to get a look at one newspaper or another. He frowned, approached the throng just in time to hear someone murmur.

"I can't believe Insomnia's gone..."

 _What_?

A few quick steps took him to the stand that held the newspapers themselves, and his eyes landed on the top one, its headline prominent across four colums: "Insomnia Falls."

He grabbed the paper from the rack, barely having the sense to toss a few gil to the stand's keeper as his eyes roved the article itself. It was like someone had punched him full in the stomach. The Empire had attacked with dreadnoughts? The king was... the king was dead?

Fighting down a rising sense of panic, he looked at the other papers, the other front page headlines: "Crown City Destroyed", "Lucis has Lost", "Peace Treaty Failed." Each one read exactly like the one in his hand, delivering the same facts in different words.

He stumbled away from the stand, the crowd, leaning one hand on the nearest railing. He felt a hand on his shoulder, turned to find a young man eyeing him. "You okay, man? S'kinda stark news..."

Ignis forced his voice to work, his hands to steady. "Yes, I'm fine... just the shock of it, is all..." He waited for the man to walk away before looking back at the newspaper. If this was a case of just misinformation... how could it be all over every headline?

One person could tell him. If she'd been in the city... He pulled out his phone, snapping the dial button as soon as he had Aria's information on the screen.

It rang. And rang. And rang. The calm recording of her voicemail took over after five rings, "Hey, it's Aria. Can't answer right now, but leave a message!"

His stomach clenched. It took a second for him to be able to speak. "Aria, it's me. Were you... were you in Insomnia, yesterday? Are you all right? ... Please call me." He couldn't be bothered by how his voice wavered. Hanging up, he looked towards the hotel... he had to tell Noctis and the others.

—

That had gone about as well as could be expected, and soon Ignis was back behind the wheel, steering them back along the road they'd come through. Rain pelted the windshield and roof of the Regalia, and Ignis tried not to think about how appropriate the weather was for the news they were trying to confirm or deny.

"I hope everyone's okay..." the blonde next to him murmured.

Aria still hadn't called back. And Noctis was as upset as ever. "Lotta good hoping's gonna do," the prince grumbled in answer to Prompto's hesitant optimism.

"We mustn't lose faith," Ignis admonished gently, speaking as much to himself as he was to the other three.

Noctis wasn't having it. "Really? Can faith stop a fleet of imperial dreadnoughts?!"

"Give it a rest," Gladiolus sighed. In the rearview mirror, Ignis could see him watching Noctis with concern.

"My old man had plenty of faith!"

"Enough," the bodyguard insisted, one hand touching Noctis' shoulder only to be shrugged off.

"The empire _lied_... they betrayed us." Prompto's voice was quiet, wounded. Ignis knew the optimistic young man was having trouble with the idea of what could have happened. "How could they do that?"

"We can't assume they've done anything. We have to see the truth for ourselves," Ignis answered, his fingers gripping hard at the wheel. He was grateful to his gloves for their concealment, for he was sure his knuckles were white.

"All you'll find are lies... like that ceasefire," growled Noctis, and the car descended into silence. Over the sounds of the road and the rain, there came the rumbling of an unfamiliar engine. Ignis glanced up... and didn't like what he saw.

"Up there!" Prompto called attention to it before Ignis could.

"Imperial dreadnoughts..."

It wasn't looking good for Insomnia.

—

The inspection point cemented the suspicion in Ignis' heart, and by the time they fought their way to the overlooking hill and heard the news report spreading the lies of Noctis' death, he didn't even need to see the faint smoke curling out from his home to know that the newspapers were accurate.

As Noctis yelled at the marshal over the phone, Ignis watched the prince. As soon as the phone was hung up, he knew the news was already worse. "What did the marshal... have to say?" he asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Said he'd... be in Hammerhead." The fight was drained from Noctis, his eyes focused on an insignificant point on the ground. Gladiolus stepped closer to him.

"And the king?"

Noctis inhaled, as if to answer, but then he exhaled shakily, his hands clenching into fists. And that, really, said more than a thousand words. Ignis shut his eyes. King Regis was gone.

"Let's get going," Gladiolus murmured, and Ignis looked at the Shield, the twisted expression... he knew what the man was thinking. If the king was dead, then there was little doubt that Clarus had perished at his side. The Amicitia had it no other way.

He reached out to lay a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Yes. There's likely to be troops sent to inspect this area again," he agreed.

They started back down, but as they passed the bodies of the Magitek troopers they'd eliminated, Ignis' phone rang and he nearly jumped. The other three turned to look at him, but as soon as he saw Aria's name on the screen, he didn't care they were watching.

He didn't even bother with a 'hello'. "Are you all right?" he asked instead.

A gusty sigh. Was she relieved he'd answered? "Well, I'm not dead..." Gods, she sounded exhausted, but it was good to hear her voice anyway. "What the hell's going on, Ignis? The news just said the prince was killed."

Ah. Explained the relief. "Enemy propaganda, no doubt. Noct's alive and here with me. Where are you?"

"I made it out to Hammerhead. Chocobo rentals are out right now, so I'm on foot."

"Alright. Are you able to stay there for a few hours? We're on our way there to meet the marshal." It was selfish, and he knew it, but he wanted to see her. His world had been turned on its head, and he needed to know that she was really okay, see it with his own eyes.

Fortunately, she didn't argue. "Sure. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Thank you," was all he could think to say before he hung up, breathing a sigh only to find that his friends were still watching him.

"She okay?" asked Gladiolus, ever the intuitive one.

Ignis managed a smile. "Yes. She's in Hammerhead."

"Then we should get going," said Prompto, summoning up some of his usual cheer. Ignis nodded. There was no point in them being here any longer.

—

By the time they arrived at the garage, the marshal had moved on, leaving a message with Cid. The sight of the old man's grief reminded Ignis of a stark reality: what he was to Noctis, this man had been to Regis. They weren't the only ones mourning... and Regis had known this outcome was most likely all along. All of Ignis' worries and suspicions that there was more to this than they were being told were confirmed.

Before they left the garage, Cid looked up at him. "Hey, Four-eyes. There's a lady in Takka's who'd like to see you."

He'd been wondering where she was. Offering a nod, he left the garage and headed for the diner. To his surprise, he found Aria already standing next to the Regalia. She looked okay, if tired, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that were just slightly small on her body... belonging to Cindy, if Ignis had to guess. "Aria." Her name left him in a sigh, and she turned to the soft sound, a weary smile curving her lips.

"Ignis," she greeted in turn, for a moment her usual self, but then her expression wavered, and he saw the exhaustion he'd heard in their phone call. She started shaking, and without thinking he went to her, engulfed her in an embrace. As before, she fit easily into his arms, wrapping hers around him in turn as her whole body shook with emotion. "They killed her, Ignis," she choked out, fingers clutching at his jacket, her words partially muffled with her face buried in his chest. "Those damn Nifs killed my mom..."

His gut twisted, and he tightened his arms around her. Gods... "I'm sorry, Aria... I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair, one hand rubbing soothingly across her back. He wished he could do more. He wished he'd been there, much as he recognized the illogic in that desire. As if his presence would have changed the tragedy that had unfolded in the Crown City.

He held her under her trembling eased, and when she pulled back from his embrace, he pulled a hankerchief from his pocket and held it out to her. She offered a weak smile in turn, taking it and using it to wipe away the remainders of her tears. Then her eyes went past him, to his three companions who stood a respectable distance back from the two of them. Ignis had all but forgotten about them, and cleared his throat in an effort to pull attention away from the breakdown Aria'd just had.

"Well... Prompto you already know. This is Gladiolus Amicitia, sworn Shield to the royal family, and..."

She set a hand on his arm as the others moved a bit closer. "Prince Noctis," she said, both finishing his sentence and greeting the royal heir, nodding respectfully before meeting his eyes. "I'm sorry about your dad."

Noctis blinked, but nodded. "Yeah... thanks."

A moment's silence broken, predictably, by Prompto. "Hey, Aria, what happened?" A second later, he seemed to realize how that question sounded, and added, "I mean... can you tell us what it was like in the city?"

Aria's expression clouded, and Ignis feared her reaction, but she simply took a deep breath before speaking. "It was a nightmare. The empire knew exactly what they were doing, and they didn't hold back... Magitek troopers and daemons all over the city. Can't even guess how many people died." She shook her head, and Prompto stared at the ground.

"... I see."

Gladiolus reached to clap the blonde on the back, much gentler than he usually would have. "We gotta focus on what we can do right now. Come on, we should stock up before we go to meet the marshal." And he steered both Prompto and Noctis away, towards the store. Ignis smiled before looking back at Aria, who was watching the other three depart with a grateful smile on her face.

"I talked to Cor before he left here," she said without warning, leading him to raise a brow until she explained, "He was friends with my dad, back in the day. He told me he was going to help Noctis obtain the power of kings."

He frowned. "Nothing more than that?"

Shaking her head, she shrugged. "That's all I got out of him. Sorry."

"Don't be." He reached out with one arm, and she let him drape it around her shoulders to pull her closer to him. "Will you be all right?"

There were some long seconds of silence as she just leaned into him. "... Yeah,, I think so," she answered. One arm looped around his waist while her other hand brushed a stray bit of hair away from her eyes. "I mean... I should be." From somewhere, she dredged up a smile. "Mom didn't raise a quitter, y'know."

He couldn't help chuckling. "Yes, on that we can agree." He looked out over the outpost. The rain was starting to let up. "What will you do now?"

The selfish part of him wanted to ask her to come with them. He wanted to watch over her, be close to her, but that wasn't right. He wouldn't influence her choice... though judging by the way her arm tightened around his waist, he wasn't the only one with selfish wishes. When she shook her head, he knew she was denying herself the same way he was.

"Back to work. There's a lot more people out in the wilds now, and they're scared." Her free hand went to the chain around her neck, and Ignis noticed the ring accompanying her dog tags. He recognized it, but said nothing as she continued, looking up at him. "It's a hunter's job to help people when the world gets scary."

He smiled down at her, drawing her close to place a light kiss on her hair. "Just what I expected to hear." He leaned his head down, resting his forehead against hers. "You'll be careful, won't you?"

Her hand moved from her dog tags to the back of his neck, fingers lightly stroking through his hair. "Don't worry, Ignis. I don't plan on checking out until I see Niflheim go down."

He let himself toy with her braid. "Well, if I have my way, that'll be sooner rather than later."

She tilted her head back, bringing their lips together for a long, slow kiss that stole his breath away. When they parted, she grinned. "I'm counting on it."


	13. Back to Business

**We're going to start hopping through the game's timeline now. Ya'll lemme know if there's any in-game events you want Aria to be around for and I'll see what I can do!**

#

There was something to be said for the quantity of jobs at Hammerhead. After seeing Ignis and the others off, Aria had taken on every hunt Takka could throw at her, and more besides. Every now and then, refugees from Insomnia would trickle in, some on foot, some in cars. They didn't stay long, usually only there for a rest or a tune-up before moving on to find refuge somewhere else.

Five days after Ignis had left Hammerhead, Aria was returning from helping some refugees chase a sabertusk pack away from their damaged car. They'd managed to get it fixed and on its way with a repair kit, so she returned to Hammerhead alone... and something caught her eye. The screen on the chocobo rental stand was active. She checked it, confirming it was really working, before pulling out her phone and dialing.

The man she was after picked up after just two rings. "Wiz Chocobo Post, Wiz speaking! How can I help ya?"

"Hey, Wiz. It's Aria Victoris."

He laughed. "Well if it ain't one o' my favourite customers! I was worried 'bout you when the news came in 'bout Insomnia. How ya doin'?"

A smile curled her lips. She'd always liked Wiz. His care was one of the big reasons she'd always rented a chocobo, though Ivory was exclusively ridden by her. "I'm doing okay. What about you? How's Ivory and the post?"

"Good to hear! Everything's ship-shape around these parts. We were havin' some trouble with a behemoth lately, ol' Deadeye tearin' up the place, but that's been and done. I think Ivory misses ya. He's been awful fussy lately."

The mention of her snow-white chocobo made her smile even as she fired up the rental station, selecting the longest period she could. "Can you send him out to me? I'm aiming to get out to Caedus and it'd be a lot easier with Ivory. I'll make the payment at Hammerhead." And she slid the required gil into the machine's slots. Her hunts kept her well-financed, at least.

"No problem! He'll be on his way in a jiffy!"

"Thanks, Wiz. Take care."

"You too! Be sure to come on and visit if you're in the area!"

"Absolutely."

She hung up, moving to sit at one of the diner's outside tables. While she waited for her faithful steed, she pulled out her phone and dialed Caedus. She'd called him days ago to tell him she was okay, of course, but she needed to know where he was.

It took him almost five rings to pick up. "Yeah? S'Caedus."

She almost laughed. "Would it kill you to be a bit more chipper when you answer your phone?"

"Just might," he grumbled, though she could recognize the softness in his voice that he didn't like people to know was there. "So what's up?"

"Chocobo rentals are back up, and Wiz already sent Ivory out, so I'll be on my way soon."

"Sounds good. I'm out by the Coernix station in Alstor, so I'll hang out here until you can catch up."

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can. See you soon." And she hung up, leaning back in her chair to wait.

—

Ivory arrived with his usual speed, and inside an hour he was trotting up to her table, leaning his head down and nudging her to beg for scratches. Laughing, Aria obliged, rubbing the bird's head and scratching under his chin. "Hey, Ivory. Did you miss me? Oh, I missed you, boy. That's my boy," she cooed, getting to her feet to properly hug around his neck, pressing her face into the white feathers that inspired his name.

She began checking over his saddle, even though she knew Wiz always did that before sending him out. He'd even included new saddle bags for her, probably filled with travel necessities, bless him. Then she heard a voice behind her. "You on yer way out, then?"

Turning, she found Cindy there, smiling, with a wrench in one hand. Aria nodded to her friend, smiling back. "Yeah. Can't be hanging out here the whole time. I'll put local hunters out of a job." She winked, and Cindy laughed.

"That's fer sure! But listen here..." She waved the wrench in Aria's face. "You be sure to take care o' yerself. Those varmints you hunt can get mighty feisty.'

There was genuine concern in the other woman's voice, and Aria gently pushed the wrench aside to smile. "I will. I promise."

That seemed to satisfy her, and the mechanic leaned back with her hands on her hips. "Good, 'cause I ain't explainin' it to Ignis if yer tags come back here without a livin' body to go with 'em."

Aria swung herself into Ivory's saddle. "Good to know. I'll see you around, Cindy."

"You'd better. Get along now." Cindy backed up a bit, and Aria grinned, kicking into Ivory's sides and setting the bird off at a sprint.

—

It was nearing sunset by the time Aria reached Coernix. As she dismounted, she wasn't surprised to find that Caedus was nowhere in sight. Letting Ivory loose to forage for a while, she headed into the diner. If anyone knew where her wayward hunter mentor was, it was the tipster. "Hey," she greeted with a smile.

"Welcome! What can I do for you today?"

"I'm looking for a hunter. Name's Caedus?"

"Oh yeah, the older guy with the katana? He mentioned someone was gonna come looking for him. Said to tell you he got tired of waiting and went to take care of some cockatrice that've been causing problems down in the Rydielle Ley."

No surprise there. She nodded. "Thanks. I'll look for him down there."

She left the diner and called for Ivory, mounting and heading for the ley.

It didn't take long to find Caedus. He was in the middle of four cockatrice, dodging this way and that as their vicious claws and beaks tried to gore him. And he wasn't looking good... there was a cut on his leg, and by the looks of it he was poisoned and trying to find an opportunity to use an antidote.

Aria urged Ivory forward, and the bird obliged, racing in and leaping to kick one cockatrice away from his rider's mentor. Aria leapt from his back in the same instant, unsheathing her swords and cutting open the downed cockatrice's neck with two efficient slices. Then she ran to Caedus' side, getting between him and the closest monster. She slashed out at its leg, driving it back as she heard the crack of the antidote's bottle opening over her mentor's leg.

"What took you so long?" he grunted, drawing his sword again.

"Not my fault you're impatient, old man." She grinned before leaping away from him, towards the nearest of their opponents. The bird lunged, trying to gouge her with its beak, but she deflected it with one sword and stabbed in with the other, opening the beast's neck but not quite reaching far enough to get the major artery.

It screeched in pain, lunging forward with its bulk and knocking her down. Razor-sharp talons slammed down inches from her body, and Aria twisted to keep herself out of range of them. Managing a crouch, she slashed out, gashing one of its legs badly enough that it toppled. Then she was on her feet, laying open her previous gash all the way and backing up to let the creature have its death throes.

Caedus had dispatched another, and they both converged on the last beast. A single glance at him was all Aria needed to know what the plan was. She charged forward, dropping into a slide under the cockatrice's legs. Its head followed her, trying to catch her with its vicious beak. And then Caedus moved, his katana whistling through the air and decapitating the bird entirely. It dropped to the ground, twitching.

Aria regained her feet, cleaning and sheathing her swords before brushing herself off. She looked at Caedus. "Just couldn't wait for me to get here, could you? Had to go getting yourself into trouble."

"Hah!" He scoffed, sheathing his own blade. "I wasn't in trouble."

"Oh, okay, I must've imagined you scrambling around like a roach trying not to get squished, then." She rolled her eyes.

Then she glanced at him, he met her gaze, and that was it. She started laughing, seconds later joined by him as he shook his head. "Alright, alright, maybe they got in a lucky hit." He waved it off, smiling. "It's good to see you're all right, Aria."

She smiled back. "Thanks. Same to you." Her eyes went to the horizon, where the sun was starting to drop. "Come on. Let's find a haven while we still have some light."

They blew their whistles, and Ivory came running along with Caedus' regular chocobo, a russet brown boy named Chance. They mounted, and Aria followed Caedus' lead towards the nearest safe campsite.

—

Setting up camp was easy. Caedus had a two-man tent in his saddle bags, and they both had small folding chairs. Not nearly as comfy as full-on camp chairs, but much more compact. Aria tried not to be jealous of the storage space the Regalia must have, but it did cross her mind.

Their supper was simple jerky, neither of them feeling much like cooking. Aria sat with her elbows on her knees, occasionally tearing into her jerky as she stared into the fire. Eventually, Caedus broke the silence, "So... Insomnia."

She sighed, closing her eyes. "Yeah... it... it wasn't pretty. A lot of good people died." Her mother. The king. Countless members of both the Crownsguard and the Kingsglaive, she was sure. And who knew how many civilians. She shook her head. "The empire has a lot to answer for."

Caedus took his time answering, chewing his jerky and throwing another bit of wood to the fire. "Bit above my pay grade, girl. I'm just a hunter." He looked at her, his green gaze sharp as a bird's. "But you're concerned with more than just huntin' now, aren't you?"

"They took my mom, Caedus," she answered simply, her voice going cold and hard. There was no forgiveness for that. Not now, not ever. "If I can hurt them, you bet your ass I'm gonna do it."

"I get where you're coming from, Aria. I do." He stared into the fire, and Aria watched him for a minute. Sometimes she forgot he hadn't always been the gruff hunter she'd met him as. He'd once had a family, a wife and children in Tenebrae. A life that had been destroyed whenn Niflheim invaded twelve years ago.

"... I'm sorry." She stared at the ground.

He cleared his throat. "Don't be. The point is, I get it. I know you're angry." He got to his feet, heading for the tent but not before pausing to put a hand on her shoulder."Just don't let that anger blind you, alright?"

She hesitated, nodded. "Right. Goodnight, Caedus."

"'Night." And he slipped into the tent.

Aria stayed where she was, staring into the fire for a long while. After who knew how long, she sighed, shook her head. Had to get her mind off such dark thoughts as vengenace. She pulled out her phone and blinked. There was already a message from Ignis from an hour or two earlier. She hadn't even heard it go off. Oops.

 _'I hope your hunting is going easier now that the chocobo post is back up and operating._

Ah. She'd suspected, but now she knew.

 _'You didn't tell me you guys were doing a favour for Wiz.'_

 _'It was mostly Prompto's idea. He couldn't bear the thought of some behemoth preventing him from riding a chocobo. We nearly blew ourselves up taking Deadeye out.'_

She raised a brow at her phone, trying to imagine the various ways that could've been achieved.

 _'How so?'_

 _'It was a rather harrowing experience involving Fire spells and quite a few old barrels of fuel. I'll tell you the whole story in person some time.'_

 _'Looking forward to it. And yes, the hunts are much easier now that Ivory's with fallen in love with a chocobo yet?'_

There was a long wait. Maybe she should've worded that differently...

Nah.

 _'They are quite endearing. I've rented a grey girl with a penchant for trying to preen my hair. I've taken to calling her Storm.'_

She smiled. He was so adorable sometimes, she wondered if he was even aware of it.

 _'Sounds like a cutie. You'll have to introduce me to her later. Where you guys spending the night?'_

 _'We're in Lestallum, seeing Gladio's sister right now. And you?'_

 _'Near the Alstor Slough at a haven. I met up with Caedus, so we're doing what we do best.'_

 _'Glad to hear it. Take care, Aria.'_

 _'You too, Iggy.'_

She smiled, much more relaxed as she pocketed her phone. Making sure nothing flammable was near the slowly-dying fire, she headed into the tent and collapsed onto her bedding. She didn't know what she'd do in the end, but there was no sense worrying about it.


	14. Heroes of Another Story

Hunts were good for the soul. Caedus had always told her that, and Aria was starting to see the truth of it as they wandered the wilds of east Lucis, taking on whatever hunt came their way. It was helping to clear her head, but she still couldn't help going for her swords every time a Niflheim airship passed overhead.

And in the days since she'd gotten Ivory back, Ignis had told her that the Nifs had been after Noctis, attacking the group every time their paths crossed. That was not helping her anger towards the empire at all.

"You're spacin' out, girl," Caedus reprimanded, sitting on Chance's back a few paces away from her as they walked the chocobos across the wasteland.

She blinked back to reality. "Sorry," she muttered, bringing Ivory back into proper line with Chance. Her mind always wandered when travelling. Fighting was easy, things happening so fast, but the idle times were the worst, when she had nothing to do but think.

"Keep your wits about you. Ain't easy for critters to sneak up on us out here, but it could still happen." Despite the warning, Caedus' voice was kind. Then his eyes turned east, where the sun was just reaching the point where it wasn't painful to look in that direction. "... What d'you figure that is?"

Aria followed his gaze, raising one hand to shield her eyes. She could just vaguely make out some humanoid forms... and beastial forms around them. She squinted harder."It's a voretooth pack... and it looks like they're hungry."

There were no more words. They urged Chance and Ivory forward and the two birds went into a sprint, closing the distance to the pack in record time. Aria drew her swords, but it wasn't necessary. The fuss kicked up by the birds scattered the pack. They probably weren't hungry enough to chance a kick in the head by a chocobo.

The humans they'd been stalking were wielding sticks as weapons. Made sense that the voretooths thought they were easy prey. A middle-aged couple, plus a teenaged girl and two young boys. A family, then. Aria looked at them. "You guys all right?"

The woman spoke first. "Y-yes... thank you. They'd been following us for miles... we were about to turn back to the haven when they surrounded us."

"Good thing we showed up when we did, then," Caedus sighed, patting Chance's neck. "You folks from Insomnia?"

Aria blinked at him, but the woman nodded. Of course. Why else would they be out here with so few provisions? Only the man bore a pack, and that was looking sorely empty. "Yes... my name is Yara. This is my husband, Griff..." A grunt from the man. Yara gestured to the children. "Our daughter Kris, and our boys, Rem and Eran."

Eran, who looked to be the youngest, was staring at them in awe. "Are you guys soldiers?" he asked, mystified.

Caedus grunted. "Nah, kid, we're hunters."

"Which just means we fight animals more often than people, but we're still pretty tough," Aria added, softening her mentor's gruff manner. "My name's Aria, and this is Caedus."

"Good meeting you," said Griff, his voice much kinder than his grizzled, blonde-bearded face suggested. He sighed, leaning on the stick he'd been using to defend his family. "Look... hate to ask, but you two look capable... we're trying to get to Lestallum."

Yara took hold of her husband's sleeve, speaking before either hunter could answer, "And... my brother, Ioshua... we know he and his family got out of Insomnia, but we haven't heard from them since... we all agreed to meet in Lestallum..."

Aria looked at Caedus only to find he was already watching her. They didn't need to speak for both of them to know they agreed. Caedus turned back to the family. "We got it. Aria here will go back and look for your brother. I'll stay with you folk and keep you safe til Lestallum."

The relief was palpable. Yara grabbed hold of the hand Aria wasn't using to hold Ivory's reins. "Oh, thank you! The Six bless you both!"

Aria smiled, gently disentangling her fingers from the woman's. "You can thank us when you're all safe. I hope your brother knew to stay on the easier route. I'll backtrack to find him and his family." She looked up at her mentor. "Once I find them, I'll catch up to you in Lestallum."

"Sounds good." Caedus nodded, and he swung down from Chance's saddle. Then he looked at Rem and Eran. "You boys must be tired. C'mon, Chance can carry both of you for a while, give your feet a rest."

As Caedus helped the boys onto his chocobo, Aria smiled, taking Ivory's reins in both hands. "I'll see you soon," she promised, and then she dug her heels into the bird's sides and was off, heading back along the route the family had been taking.

—

Aria rode through the day, using the landscape and her map to guess at the route a scared family would be taking. As the sun began to set, she saw something promising in the distance: smoke. It was coming from Pullmoor Haven. She turned Ivory and drove him on at a sprint in that direction, hoping she'd found the family.

It was near fully dark by the time she approached the haven, so much so that she almost missed the threat hovering about the rock: sabertusks. Three that she could see, and unlike the voretooth from earlier, these looked hungry enough to risk a fight.

She pulled Ivory to a halt still in the treeline and cursed under her breath. She couldn't see on top of the haven's plateau, but she had a feeling she'd found Ioshua and his family, along with the reason they hadn't caught up to his sister. Well, that changed now.

Dismounting, she drew her swords. The first sabertusk was about ten feet from her, only four of which was underbrush that concealed her approach. Nothing for it, then. She charged, leaping from the brush with as much strength as she could muster. She still landed a good two feet from the beast, but a roll and her blade made up for that, scoring a gash across its chest. It shrieked in pain, forgetting its haven-bound meal in order to turn to her.

She got to her feet. It lunged and she dodged aside, driving her right sword down into its back. Its back legs dropped useless, crippling it. And then one of the others was leaping for it. She brought her left sword around, but didn't get it in position before the sabertusk's weight hit her full in the chest. She was driven onto her back, all the air forced from her lungs in a woosh.

She struggled, tried to get her sword into stabbing position while hacking away with her right to keep it distracted. Then, suddenly, the weight was gone, accompanied by a squawking rage. Ivory had dashed in and kicked the beast off his rider. Aria rolled to her feet, driving her sword into the dazed creature and grinning at her chocobo. "Atta boy!" she spared the breath to cry.

Her original estimate had been wrong. A fourth sabertusk had joined the original third, and both were closing on her. The first one lunged, but this time she was ready, diving down and driving her sword upward to impale it. Its momentum carried it over her, and she wrenched her sword free as it dropped. By then, the second one was attacking, but another wrathful squawk from Ivory and the sabertusk was driven back by fiercely kicking talons.

Aria spun around, put all her strength behind her right sword, and cleaved the creature's skull in half.

Then she sighed, turned to the one she'd crippled first. It was trying to drag itself, snarling at her. She grimaced. Whether or not it had been trying to kill her, seeing the beast in that kind of pain hurt. She drove her sword through its heart to end its suffering.

When her search yielded no more enemies, she cleaned and sheathed her swords and summoned Ivory to her side as she scaled the incline to the haven. Both her arms were over her head when she rose into view, and good thing, because the first thing to greet her was the pointy end of a makeshift spear, held by a man a few years older than she. "W-we don't have anything worth stealing!"

Keeping her arms up, she smiled. "I didn't figure you did. Ioshua, right? My name's Aria. Your sister asked me to find you."

He blinked, then, lowering the spear a bit. "... You saw Yara?"

She took a second to glance over his shoulder, where a woman was crouched on the rock. In her arms was a little girl no older than five, and there was a baby in a carrier on her back. Aria returned her eyes to Ioshua. "Yeah. My friend's taking her and her family to Lestallum. I came back to do the same thing for you."

Ioshua dropped his spear entirely, and Aria saw the exhaustion in him. She was surprised he stayed standing. "Thank you, I... thank you. Those sabertusks stalked us until we had to come back here... I thought even the haven's runes wouldn't keep them at bay..." He stepped back, gesturing to his family. "It's okay, Lilia. You can let Anyi go."

The woman loosened her grip on her daughter, and the little one rushed forward, attaching herself to her father's leg, but looking up at Aria. "Can you protect us?"

Wow. Leave it to kids to ask the stark questions. The hunter nodded. "I'm gonna do my best. Monsters aren't much of a match for me."

"What about soldiers?" asked the child.

"Anyi..." Ioshua warned gently.

"I'm scared of the empire, Daddy!" she burst out as Lilia got to her feet to join them.

"I'm sorry... when Insomnia fell..."

Aria shook her head before the mother could continue. "I understand. I was there too."

The sympathy on the couple's faces made her want to wince, but she didn't. Lilia smiled. "Oh... I didn't introduce our son." She turned so Aria could see the baby sleeping on her back. "This is Ethas."

Aria smiled back, looking at the child who had no idea the turmoil his parents were going through to keep him safe. "He's beautiful." And she knelt to address Anyi. "And so are you, Anyi. Do you think the empire would come for you here?"

Anyi shivered, clung to her father's pantleg. "I don't know... I know the havens won't keep them away..."

This child shouldn't have to fear anything from other humans... Aria shook that thought from her head. "Listen, tell you what. You and your family are going to sleep in my tent, and I'm going to stay awake with Ivory here so no one gets near this place. Sound good?"

Anyi stared at her, stared at the chocobo. Then, finally, she nodded.

Aria grinned. "Atta girl. Want to help me set up?"

—

The tent Wiz had given her was only a one-man, so it was a tight squeeze for the family of four, but Anyi and Ethas were small, making it easier. Aria followed through with her promise, sitting with her back against the curled-up Ivory, her eyes scanning the area around the haven.

It was about three hours into her watch before she thought to check her phone. A single text from Ignis.

 _'If this journey gets any stranger, I may have to start writing novels to you. Noct's been getting headaches for two days now, and we've learned they're caused by Titan himself. A stranger has offered to take us to the Meteor to confront him, but I'm unsure... If I don't text back, I've likely been squashed by the Archaean.'_

... Damn her inability to figure out if he was joking or not.

 _'So now you guys are having chit chats with the gods? Damn, and I thought my life was interesting.'_

She pocketed her phone as she heard the tent unzip. Turning her head, she found Lilia exiting the tent and coming to sit beside her. "May I speak with you?"

"Sure." Though what the other woman wanted to talk about, Aria hadn't a clue... until Lilia spoke again.

"I really appreciate you reassuring Anyi... you must have seen what Niflheim did to Insomnia... and even then, you all but promised to keep her safe."

Damn... Aria managed a shrug. "It's not a big deal. Yeah, I saw what the Nifs could do... but I'm no slouch. They'll have a good fight on their hands if they try to go against me." She met the woman's eyes. "I won't let any harm come to you or your family while I'm still breathing."

Lilia smiled. "Thank you, Aria. Really."

"Don't worry about it. Get some sleep."

While Lilia left to oblige, Aria stared into the fire. Yes, Niflheim's power was terrifying... but damned if she was going to be scared of them. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

It wasn't until the morning that she realized Ignis hadn't answered her.

#

So you all probably realize this, but this is the night after the party confronts Titan. I figure Ignis would be too distracted with Titan and Ardyn and woops the Regalia's gone to notice his phone was going off.


	15. Calm Amidst the Storm

**And now a bridge chapter! I am a little behind on my writing for this one but I hope to keep up my chapter-a-day schedule.**

#

Ignis hadn't realized how much they relied on the Regalia. Wiz had loaned them some camping supplies, split between the saddle bags of their chocobos, but it wasn't familiar. Nowhere was this more evident than the cooking supplies. He found himself missing his own equipment, and hoping Cindy had luck tracking down the car.

Meanwhile, there was Ramuh. They'd tracked down two of the stones so far, but night had fallen before they could get to the third, and they'd decided the Fulgarian could wait until morning. Now, Ignis and Gladiolus carried the hastily-made soup that was their dinner into the tent, as the rain made eating outside undesireable. Noctis and Prompto were huddled over their phones, loooking up when the other two entered.

They were fortunate Wiz had a four-man tent to loan them. Though smaller than their own, there was still space for all of them. Once dinner was finished, Ignis stacked the dishes in their storage bag and set it in one corner. He just didn't feel like washing them in the rain. And as they settled down for sleep, he propped himself against his pillow to look at his phone, glasses pushed down to the tip of his nose. Aria had texted him that morning asking if Titan had, indeed, managed to squash him, but they hadn't had the time for a real conversation past his reassurance that he'd survived the encounter with the mighty god.

Now he had the time, and he read her last message with a smile.

 _'Okay, so no squashing. Let me know how it went when you've got a minute.'_

 _'Quite well, all things considered. Noct gained the blessing, though Titan has vanished... as has the Regalia, regrettably.'_

 _'Man, you guys have no luck with that car._

 _'Tell me about it. Cindy is doing her best to track it down, but for now all we have are the chocobos.'_

 _'How're they liking the weather? We just got out of the storm in that area.'_

 _'Surprisingly they're okay with it. It's me and the guys that have the issue.'_

 _'Lol, no surprise there.'_

He shook his head, sure she was actually laughing at him.

 _'What are you and Caedus up to?'_

 _'We split up yesterday. He escorted a family to Lestallum and I backtracked to find the wife's brother and his family. We're making our way to Lestallum too, but it's slow going with a baby in tow. The five-year-old can ride Ivory, but the baby won't nurse if mom's moving.'_

 _'Troubling... are they refugees from Insomnia?'_

 _'Yeah. Nothing I can't handle though. Ran into trouble with some hundlegs but took care of them in less than a minute. I think I'm a bad influence on the little girl. She's starting to like me.'_

Ignis smiled. Why wouldn't a young girl like Aria? She was a strong, intelligent woman. A worthy role model.

 _'Come now, I'm sure there are many worse people she could look up to. You're a wonderful person.'_

 _'Flatterer.'_

 _'Merely the truth.'_

 _'Suuuuure it is. So what are you guys doing while Cindy tracks your car down?'_

 _'Noct seeks the blessing of the Fulgarian now. It's peaceful compared to Titan. So far all we've had to do is follow the lightning to the stones that are drawing it.'_

 _'Guess you earned a vacation. Try not to get fried, k?'_

 _'I will do my best.'_

Minutes went by without an answer, and he set his phone down and took off his glasses. Noctis was already asleep beside him, and he could hear Gladiolus snoring softly on his other side. Shaking his head, the advisor rolled to his stomach to set his belongings above his head. Then he hugged one arm around his pillow, the other up by his phone, and allowed sleep to come for him.


	16. On False Charges

**This is officially my most-reviewed story! Well it reached that point a while ago, but whee anyway! To all you guys hoping that Ignis and Aria will reunite, worry not! It'll happen! ... Not this chapter, but it will!**

#

Aria's journey to Lestallum had taken longer than expected, thanks to Ethas' fussy nature. It was two and a half days later when they were finally on the last stretch,, almost to the waypoint outside of Lestallum, where people could call cabs to take them into the city. The tunnel that led in from the east side was perilous for foot travel.

"We really can't thank you enough," Lilia said, astride Ivory's back to rest her feet, Ethas on her back. Anyi was running along ahead, and Aria walked beside her chocobo with Ioshua.

"Can and have, Lilia." Aria smiled. "I'm just glad I could help."

Cresting the hill that allowed view of the waypoint, Anyi suddenly turned and ran back. "Mommy, Daddy!"

Ioshua practically caught his daughter, scooping her into his arms. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"The empire's here!"

What? Aria narrowed her eyes, putting on a bit of speed to reach the top of the hill ahead of the others. She could see the waypoint... a small shelter where travellers and chocobos could rest, and a phone booth for calling the cab companies. And beside it, one of Niflheim's transport airships. Six Magitek troopers stood at attention, but what had Aria's attention were the three obviously human troopers standing near the phone booth.

Ioshua came up beside her with Ivory. He frowned, still holding Anyi. "What do you think they're here for?"

"... I don't know." And she didn't like it. Still, she shook her head. "Come on, just act normal. If we let them intimidate us, it'll only make it difficult."

She led them down the hill towards the waypoint, changing nothing about her gait or expression but keeping her eyes on the imperials. There was no surprise when one of them shifted to intercept the group. "Excuse me, folks. Some imperial business we have to attend to."

It took effort for Aria to make her expression amiable. "Oh? I thought all checkpoints were located at the blockades."

The man, certainly older than she was with hints of grey hair, smiled. "We're actually in the process of lifting the barricades on the roads, but there are still some outstanding issues." His eyes went to her dog tags. "You're a hunter, ma'am?" There was a note of something in his voice... amusement, maybe.

It rankled her. "That's right."

"And your name? Purely a formality."

"It's Aria Victoris."

That got a response. He blinked, glanced back at his two human companions, who moved up next to him. Aria tensed, but didn't move, waiting for him to speak. He was reaching for something, but it wasn't his weapon. "Miss Victoris... I'm afraid we have to take you into custody. We have reports from witnesses, and you're wanted for questioning regarding the attack on Insomnia."

 _What_? Her muscles bunched, her fists clenched. It took real effort not to go for her swords. "Are you goddamn kidding me?" she snarled.

He raised his hands, one now holding a set of handcuffs. "Now, now, we don't want any trouble... we're just covering all our bases." His eyes slid from her to her companions, who stood nervously by. Then he looked back at her, one brow raised in clear threat: did she want to risk the family's safety with a fight?

Damn it. If she was alone, she would have attacked without hesitation. Even if there'd only been the three human enemies... but the Magitek troopers were a problem. If a fight started, she wasn't sure she could keep all of them away from Ioshua and his family.

But at the same time, there was only one reason she could think of that the empire would want her in custody. Somehow, they knew she was connected to Ignis, and through him, to Noctis.

All these thoughts and worries flickered through her mind in only a few seconds. There was only one thing she could do, and it was going to suck.

"Alright," she said, putting all her effort towards sounding calm. "But you'll find I had nothing to do with it." And they all knew that the reason given was bullshit, anyway.

"You can't take her!" Anyi cried suddenly, kicking and trying to get out of her father's arms to no avail. "She's not a bad person! You're all bad!"

The leader eyed the child, but Aria intervened. "Anyi, these guys are just doing their job." She took one step, waited to see if she would be stopped, and when she wasn't, she moved to Ioshua and touched the girl's head. "Don't worry."

"But..."

Ioshua looked hesitant too. As did Lilia, who got off Ivory's back to look at her. Ioshua spoke first. "Aria, something's not right about this."

She lowered her voice. "I know, but it's too risky to resist them. You guys have to get into the city, find your sister and Caedus. I can take care of myself." And hopefully prevent these bastards from getting any information about the prince while she was at it.

"Miss Victoris..." said the imperial leader behind her.

She nodded, stepping away from Ioshua. Waiting for the family to start towards the phone booth, she turned to the waiting imperials and held out her arms.

But there was one thing she had to get rid of before she gave herself up.

Just before the cuffs were on her, she snapped one hand up to punch the soldier square between the eyes. And then she ran, one hand going into her pocket as she moved.

She didn't get far. The imperials called an order to the Magitek troopers, and then pain erupted through her right leg as one of the troopers fired a steel needle that tore through her calf. She fell hard, crying out in pain, and then the troopers were on top of her, cold metal hands dragging her to her feet.

"Aria!" cried Lilia, stopping in her movement.

"It's fine!" she barked back, making no effort to struggle even as the man she'd punched approached.

He glared, and then he slapped her hard across the face. " _That_ was not the action of an innocent woman, Miss Victoris."

Aria painted a nervous look on her face, helped to sell it by the stinging pain in her jaw. "Sorry, I... I don't want to go to prison..."

"Then you'll do as you're told," he growled, jerking his head at the troopers. They began to haul her towards the airship, paying no mind to whether or not her feet could keep up with theirs.

None of them noticed that Aria's phone was lying in the grass where she'd fallen.

—

Caedus stood among Lestallum's bustling front street, watching Kris as she flitted from food stall to food stall. Yara and Griff were sitting at a nearby table with Eran and Rem, but the eldest child hadn't been able to make up her mind for what she wanted to eat yet. Caedus had spent the days since arriving in Lestallum with the family, having nothing better to do while waiting for Aria.

Among the cars moving back and forth on the street, one came to a sudden halt, a cab whose passenger-seat occupant was point in their direction. Caedus frowned as the cabbie was paid and the passengers piled out, a young couple, their daughter, and an infant in the mother's arms.

Yara noticed them too. "Ioshua!" she cried.

Kris abandoned her decision-making, and she and her entire family sprinted to the ones who'd left the cab. Yara and the man, Ioshua obviously, collided in a hug, and the other family members traded hugs and tears of relief.

Caedus usually wouldn't have interrupted such a moment, but someone was missing. He approached.

"Where's Aria?"

Ioshua and his wife froze. She clutched her baby tight. "You must be Caedus... I am so sorry... I'm sorry..."

That didn't help his fears any. "What happened?" he asked, barely keeping himself from snapping the question.

"There were imperial soldiers outside the city..." Ioshua said, meeting his eyes with pain and guilt in his own. "They said Aria was wanted for questioning... she... she didn't want to risk fighting them..."

Caedus' heart lept into his throat. No. Oh, no. "Take me to where it happened."

Ioshua nodded.

—

Hailing a cab again and getting back to the waypoint didn't take long. The airship was gone, but Ioshua showed him where it had been. "When they had Aria, she... she turned and ran. They hit her with something, and she fell... over there." He pointed, and Caedus walked the path following his gesture.

It didn't take long for him to spot something amiss: Aria's phone. He leaned down to pick it up. His fingers clenched around the small device.

Ioshua came to his side. "I'm sorry... if it weren't for Lilia and the kids, I'd have tried to stop them..."

"It's not your fault." Caedus shut his eyes, fought to control his worry and his anger. Those damn Nifs...

He looked at Aria's phone. He knew who she'd been in contact with.

And Ignis Scientia was going to have a lot of questions to answer.


	17. The Risk to the Loved

It was hard to believe Jared was gone. Ignis hadn't known the man well, but the butler had always been a pleasant sort, and his loyalty to Gladiolus' family, and the royal family, was absolute. Knowing he'd died protecting their secrets from the empire... it stung. And Ignis could tell that it hurt Noctis too.

Once Iris had followed Talcott out of the room, the four of them sat in silence for a while. Noctis' fists clenched. When he spoke, his voice was hushed, "I'm sorry, Gladio."

"It's not your fault," the Shield replied without hesitation, though his eyes were focused on the floor. "He wouldn't have had it any other way."

"Indeed." Ignis nodded, glancing toward where Prompto sat silently. Seeing Talcott crying had affected him, Ignis could tell. He was about to ask if he was okay when the sound of a phone ringing broke the relative silence of the room.

It took him a second to realize it was his, and he looked at the screen. It was Aria. He flicked the screen to answer. "Hello?"

"What the hell have you gotten her into!?"

He yanked the phone away from his ear as the furious, masculine voice practically erupted from it. All three of his friends looked up, but Ignis was more concerned with the man on the other end. "Who is this?"

"My name's Caedus; don't bother telling me yours. Aria's talked about you, and if you don't have a damned good reason for putting her in harm's way, we're gonna have a lot more than just words."

Ignis' whole body went cold. "What do you mean? Did something happen to her?"

A deep breath from the other end, Caedus apparently trying to compose himself. "She's been taken by the Nifs. They claimed some bullshit about questioning her about Insomnia, but I think you and I both know what they really want her for."

He nearly dropped the phone. The only thought his mind could dredge up was _no_. No, this couldn't be happening. She couldn't be in danger. Not because of him. He swallowed, forced himself to speak. "Where? Where did it happen?"

"Outside Lestallum. I don't know where they took her!" The fury was back in Caedus' voice.

"We're inside the city, at the Leville. Can you get here? I need to know everything." And if Caedus saw fit to punch him over this... Ignis couldn't say he didn't deserve it.

A few seconds of silence, then a growl, "I'm on my way."

Ignis hung up, tried to steady his shaking hands. Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could he have not guessed that she'd be in danger? How could he not have known this would happen? Jared,, Iris, Talcott, Aria... everyone who knew them was a potential target. But he hadn't prepared for it, and now Jared was dead, and Aria was in danger of joining him.

"Ignis, who was that?" Noctis' voice broke him from his panicked thoughts. The prince, along with Prompto and Gladiolus, was watching him with worry in his eyes. "What's happened?"

"It was a hunter, named Caedus... he's Aria's teacher..." He was trying and failing to keep his voice steady. It was hard to breathe. He closed his eyes. "The empire's taken her."

"What?!" exclaimed Prompto, the first sound he'd made since getting into the room.

"Shit!" And that was Gladiolus, still fueled by the anger over Jared's death. Ignis opened his eyes to find the Shield clenching his fists, teeth gritted. "When did it happen?"

Ignis shook his head. "I don't know. Caedus is on his way to tell me what he knows." Gods, if they'd hurt her...

He looked towards Noctis, who was glaring at the floor. "Noct, I can't ask you to help me with this... it doesn't involve all of us, and—" He snapped his mouth shut when Noctis raised a hand.

"Don't bother, Specs. I'm helping."

"We all are!" Prompto added, though he paused to look at Gladiolus after a second. "Aren't we?"

"Damn right we are. The Nifs aren't getting anyone else," growled the bodyguard, and one of his hands clasped Ignis' shoulder. "You're not taking this one alone, Iggy."

For a moment, he was overwhelmed, bowing his head in gratitude for the loyalty of his friends. "Thank you."

—

It was barely a half an hour later when there was a knock at the door. Noctis moved to answer it, and opened it to a man at least in his 30s, with thinning black hair and a katana sheathed at his hip. He quirked a brow at Noctis. "Well, I'll be damned. Pleasure t' meet ya, your highness."

The prince didn't even blink at being recognized. "And you're Caedus, I'm guessing."

"Damn right." He stepped in when Noctis made room for him, and his eyes swept the place, meeting Ignis'. "And this pretty boy must be Ignis."

Ignis admitted he wasn't used to being called 'pretty' when he was in the company of ones such as Noctis and Prompto. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. This is Gladiolus, Noct's bodyguard, and Prompto, Noct's best friend." Introductions done, he cut to the chase. "What do you know?"

"Not a lot." Caedus crossed to sit on one of the beds, nearly bouncing Prompto off it in the process. "I split up with Aria when we came across some refugees; I escorted the ones we'd met, and she went back to find some family of theirs. When they got to Lestallum, there were Nifs waitin' for 'em. As soon as they knew Aria's name, they said they wanted to haul her off for questioning." He pulled Aria's phone from the pocket of his jacket. "She made a runner... I'm guessin' just to drop this." He glanced at it, glared. "If she'd kept it on her, I've got friends who coulda tracked her through it..."

Ignis felt sick. He knew why Aria had ditched her phone. "If she'd kept it, the imperials who took her would have been able to read our correspondence. It's likely she didn't want to give them any information..."

She'd been thinking ahead. Protecting him and his friends. And what had he done? He'd left her to the wolves. Hell, he'd practically led them to her. Damn it... he pressed one hand to his face, bumping his glasses up to rub his eyes. "How did they know she was connected to me..."

"Not real important right now, Iggy," Gladiolus muttered, shaking his head. "What's important right now is figuring out where they took her. A lot of the imperial bases are gone, what with Ardyn getting them to open the barricades. That narrows the search down a bit, but not by much."

"There's still a lot of bases around... so the empire can 'protect' us..." Prompto scoffed, shook his head. "She's probably in one that's not far from Lestallum."

"Good t'see you boys ain't as dumb as you look." Caedus snorted, moved to look out over the balcony. "Damn it... we're losin' daylight."

Ignis followed his gaze. It was already late afternoon. He tried to focus, to think like the strategist he was taught to be. "We won't do ourselves any favours wandering around the wilds after dark. We should use the rest of the day to speak to the citizens, refugees especially. People who have been outside Lestallum recently. They may know more about bases in the area. It could give us a better idea of our options."

Noctis nodded, and Ignis didn't think he was imagining the relief in the prince's eyes. "Good plan. We'll split up and ask around."

They got to their feet, and as they were leaving, Noctis put his hand on Ignis' arm, making the advisor pause. "We'll find her, Specs."

Ignis nodded, though couldn't bring himself to feel terribly reassured. "I hope so, Noct."

—

"Pay attention!"

Another harsh blow cracked across Aria's face. They were beating her with nightsticks, the lazy bastards. Apparently she wasn't worth bruising their knuckles.

She had no idea where she was. She'd been bound and blindfolded after being dragged into the airship, and the man who'd arrested her, whose name she learned to be Weskas, had beaten her liberally as revenge for being punched. By the time she'd been dragged out and through who knew how many hallways only to be bound to a chair, she was too disoriented to make a mental map of where she was being pulled.

Now the blindfold was gone, but the beatings were a lot harsher. She'd been asked by both of her interrogators where the prince was. And she'd kept her mouth shut. But the repeated blows to her head were starting to daze her, which only served to piss her captors off that much more.

"Damn it. We sure this is the right bitch?" growled one, the one with the heaviest hand.

"Yeah. Weskas said her name was the same as the one Joxin saw the day of the bombing," the one with the lightest blows assured. Joxin. The name rang a bell, but Aria couldn't place it. The light-hitter continued, "And take it easy on her. We don't wanna end up with another case like that old man in Lestallum. We need information, not to rile up the public."

Old man?

"Whatever. We won't get shit out of her if we don't rough her up."

"So get creative. Stop whaling on her head."

Heavy-hand chuckled, and Aria knew this wasn't good for her. There was a crackling, and she watched electricity spark down a rod that closely resembled a livestock prod. When it touched her arm, electricity sent agony through her entire body.

She screamed. He withdrew the weapon and grabbed her braid, yanking her head up to face him. "You're gonna talk, girly. Just a matter of how much I have to hurt you to make you do it."


	18. Mission Start

**Bit of a content warning for this chapter regarding torture. I won't go into too much detail, but the empire's interrogation isn't gentle.**

#

Aria wasn't sure how many hours had passed. They hadn't let her sleep, someone always there with the electric prod or, worse, a firebrand that had seared her already-injured calf along with the same thigh and her shoulder. They'd administered potions, staving off infection and closing her wounds, but not enough to keep the pain away.

Now she took a deep breath, lifting her head as the door of her prison opened, letting in her two original tormentors, whom she'd learned were named Ash and Calder. Ash opened with a heavy strike across her jaw. "Good morning, gorgeous." He held her chin, inspecting the swollen lip from the repeated blows. "Well, not so much now, huh? You ready to talk?"

She pulled her chin away from him, not breaking eye contact. "Ready to tell you to go screw yourself," she spat.

He slapped her again. "Wrong answer."

Calder spoke softly, standing off to Ash's left. "You can make this end, Aria. Just tell us what you know about the prince."

Damn it. How long did she have before these guys decided she wasn't worth it? She had to think, to focus, but the constant pain was throwing a wrench in that plan.

Ash punched her in the stomach, and her whole body lurched, held up only by the ropes binding her wrists behind the chair. "You gonna answer him?" he growled over her wheezing for air.

If her ankles weren't tied to the chair legs, she'd have kicked him. Instead, she glared. "Not a chance, you Nif bastards."

Calder sighed, clearly making a show of his disappointment. He leaned down and drew something out of a sheath leaning on the wall. Aria recognized it as one of her swords. "I wish you'd see reason..."

Her own blade gashed her arm, and she cried out.

 _Shit... Caedus, I hope you found them..._

—

Ignis had barely slept, despite his best efforts. He knew he was no use to Aria if he was tired, but every time he closed his eyes, his imagination threw image after horrifying image at him. What the empire could be doing to her, what she could be suffering all because he hadn't thought ahead.

Now he sat in the hotel room, a map spread out between him and the four other men. Their talks with the refugees had been fruitful, and they had the three closest imperial fortresses marked on the map around Lestallum. He studied it, pretending not to notice that the others were watching him, waiting.

"The one to the west is unlikely; people notice when airships fly over the city. Of the other two..." He looked at the two marks east of Lestallum on the map. Eventually, he put his finger on the more northern of them. "I'd say this one's most likely. From what we heard, it's the smaller of them, more able to pack up and move."

"And they wouldn't wanna bring a prisoner to a more critical base, 'in case she gets free," Caedus put in, one hand under his chin. "Alright, four-eyes, I got nothin' better so we'll go with your gut."

"Iggy's usually right about this kind of thing," Prompto said, a hint of a pout on his face. "We'd all be dead ten times over if it weren't for his brain."

"Good for you," the hunter grunted, crossing his arms as Noctis gathered up the map. "I'll hold back from singing his praises til we've got Aria back."

Prompto seemed about to protest, but Ignis touched the younger man's shoulder to stop him. Caedus had every right to be bitter; someone close to him was in danger. They didn't need to start an arguement and fracture his willingness to work with them.

Gladiolus seemed to be of a similar mindset, as he gently urged Prompto out of the room. "There's a haven near the base. I say we do what we did when we got the Regalia back: camp out and go in under the cover of night."

Ignis begrudged any delay, but he knew his friend was right. "Agreed. It will take a couple hours just to get there anyway."

Noctis stowed the map as he followed the others out into the hallway. "Well, let's get going then. Gladio, you tell Iris what's going on?"

"Yeah, she said she'll stick with Talcott until we've got this sorted out. Dustin's with them, so they should be okay."

The five of them exited the hotel and headed out to the main car lot. Ignis was practically jogging, urgency driving him.

 _We're coming, Aria._

—

It was getting hard to resist. Aria had bit her tongue to the point of blood, wrists rubbed raw from her squirming against the ropes. Even so, she kept up working the rope, getting as much slack as she could, and whenever Calder's promises began to sound tempting, she bit her tongue again.

She would _not_ betray Ignis. Not to these bastards.

Ash was getting frustrated, and with his frustration came increased brutality. The last few times she'd been burned and cut, they hadn't bothered administering a potion, and blood was still dripping from the gashes in her arm and knee, and more from several more burns on her leg. It was to the point where she wondered if she'd be able to escape even if she got free of her bonds. But at the very least she'd make these two pay.

She'd just finished screaming through another application of the electric prod when the door opened. The light from the hallway stung her eyes, and when she adjusted enough to be able to look, she blinked in bewilderment at the tall, elaborately-dressed redhead who'd entered the room.

"Goodness, but you _have_ been worked over, my dear," he purred, and she noticed how Ash and Calder had both moved to stand at attention. This guy was a big man in the empire then.

Despite her injuries, despite everything, she found it in herself to glare at him. She opened her mouth to speak, but in a heartbeat he was beside her, hand on her shoulder and his thumb dug into the burn there. Whatever words she might have formed became a howl of surprise and pain. And this bastard _laughed_.

"But still quite a lot of spirit!" He slid his hand down her arm, past the cuts and the blood... and she felt something slide into her hand. She closed her fingers around what was unmistakably the hand of a knife. It was work to keep her surprise from showing on her face. Who was this guy to be helping her?

She wasn't given much chance to ask, as the next second he was back upright and moving away from her. "Well..." He swept a bow towards her and her captors. "I leave the rest to you."

"Yes, sir, Chancellor Izunia!" barked Ash and Calder together.

Chancellor? Aria remembered something from Ignis' texts... that they'd met the imperial chancellor when they'd gone to face the Archaean... why the guy was here and giving her the means to her escape, she couldn't guess.

Ash and Calder returned to facing her as soon as the door closed. The torture would resume.

If they looked behind her, she was dead. But now she had a new strength to resist their machinations.

Twisting the knife, she began to work at the ropes holding her wrists. It was going to take a while, and there was no guarantee she had the strength to make it out of the fortress alive... but damned if she was going down without a fight.


	19. Rescue

**Another content warning for violence for this one. I'm fairly sure I won't go above an M rating, but just in case any of my readers are squeamish about that sort of thing.**

#

It had been more than an hour, of that Aria was sure. She'd sawed through one loop of the ropes, giving her enough slack to pull her arms free if she wanted to. And hell, she wanted to. She'd almost dropped the knife several times, she'd been in so much pain.

Cuts from her own swords now graced her face, one above her left eye and one striking from her right cheekbone across to her lip and chin. She'd been electrified more times than she'd bothered to count, and she suspected her shin was fractured, or at the least the deep tissue was bruised. She hoped it was the latter, or walking was going to suck, let alone running from everything that was going to want to kill her.

After who knew how long, Ash stepped back from his work. "Hmph... you're tough." He turned to his cohort. "Calder, what say we knock off for the night? Ain't getting anything from her anyway."

Calder sighed, nodded. "Very well."

Aria feared her chance might have slipped by, but then Ash stepped close to her, wrenched her braid back. "We'll see you in the morning, bitch."

She found it in herself to smile. "No you won't."

Ripping her hands free, she stabbed with what strength she could summon. It was enough, and the knife buried itself in Ash's throat. His eyes bulged, shock freezing on his face as she yanked the knife out and allowed the arterial spray to cover the floor along with her legs.

No time to dwell on how good that felt. Calder was leaping for the door, and her legs were still bound. In a desperate gamble, she threw the knife. It whipped end-over-end and struck his back, but fell out a second later. Not a fatal wound. Damn it!

He struck a button next to the door, and an alarm started to blare. Then he scooped the knife off the floor and came towards her, all vestiges of his false kindness gone. "You _bitch_..."

She waited for him to lunge, and then threw all her weight sideways. The chair fell, and he tripped over her legs, crashing to the floor. While he was regaining his senses, she squirmed her legs and fought with the bloody ropes with her fingers. Finally, she got loose and rolled free just in time to avoid the knife that pinged off the floor right where her head had been a second earlier.

Her swords were still in the harness against the wall, and she pulled one out just as Calder came for her again. With the loudest war-cry she could muster, she ran him through, and got treated to the second face frozen in the shock of death. Pulling her sword free, she forced herself to her feet.

"Yeah... fuck you guys."

Gods, everything hurt. It was a chore to sheathe her sword and buckle her harness. Her rifle bag was lying in the corner, and she managed to get that on as well despite the pain in her burned shoulder.

Now it was just a matter of getting out past a base full of soldiers alerted by the alarm.

Piece of cake.

—

Everything was going pretty smoothly. They'd slipped into the base under cover of night, Noctis only having to take out three troopers with his warp strikes. They'd just agreed to split up, three and two, to check the places Aria could be being held, when an alarm started to blare.

In seconds, everything went from smooth to chaos. The troopers on patrol snapped to attention, and more, both Magitek and human, emerged from the buildings to scamper to new duties.

From where the five of them were concealed, Ignis swore under his breath. Beside him, Caedus smiled and shook his head. "Fifty gil says that's Aria."

Gladiolus grimaced. "If they've had her for this long..."

He didn't need to finish. Ignis looked over the crates they were hiding behind before addressing the others. "The plan doesn't change. Noct, Gladio, Prompto, you three take the west buildings. Sabotage the generator if you can. Caedus and I will take the east. Kill anything in your way."

His three friends nodded, Noct summoning his sword and throwing it straight into the nearest trooper's neck. As he warped after it, Gladiolus and Prompto broke cover to take out more nearby enemies. Ignis waited a second for them to distract everyone nearby, and then he took off, Caedus close behind him.

They were confronted with opponents almost immediately. Ignis called his daggers, throwing one straight into the head of a Magitek trooper before clashing blades with another. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Caedus' katana clear its sheath and cut a trooper's hand off in the same smooth motion. While sparks flew from the severed appendage, Caedus cut the thing's head off.

The advisor found a second to be impressed before resuming his attack on his own opponent, knocking the robot's blade wide and taking out its head with one quick stab as he called his other dagger back to his hand. Two human soldiers were advancing, and Ignis threw both his daggers, summoning a lance as both were deflected. He lunged, using the weapon's long reach to get under unprepared defenses and cut open the imperial's belly. The man collapsed, and Ignis finished him off with a quick thrust through the chest.

When he looked up from that, Caedus was sheathing his katana, the last soldier lying in a pool of blood on the ground. He seemed about to say something, but they both paused. In between the shrieks of the alarm, they could hear distant noise: the sounds of battle.

With no words to each other, they started running, following the sounds around a corner. There, outside one of the larger buildings, was Aria, one sword drawn and held by both hands as she fended off the attacks of three Magitek troopers. She was in horrible shape, too many wounds to count, and clearly barely holding her own.

"Aria!" Caedus was gone from Ignis' side, his katana flying from its sheath and fully decapitating the trooper closest to them.

The action snapped Ignis out of his shock, and his daggers flew, one taking the second trooper in the back of the neck. The other bounced off the back of the third, but by then Caedus was lunging, and in a second its head joined its fellows on the ground.

Aria collapsed, and both men rushed to her. Caedus supported her with one arm, using the other to sheath first his and then her sword. "Easy. We've got you."

She shuddered, and Ignis could barely hear a weak attempt at a laugh. "Took your sweet time, didn't you..."

His heart wrenched to hear the pain in her voice, and he reached to add his support to Caedus'. "I'm sorry." He looked at the hunter across from him. "We need to get her somewhere safe."

Caedus nodded, letting Ignis take Aria's weight. "Help her walk. I'll clear us a path."

It worried Ignis how much Aria relied on him for support as he got them both to their feet. They moved slowly, Caedus leading the way. When they rounded the corner, a new batch of troops were standing over the results of their earlier battle. Caedus lunged without hesitation, killing two before they even had their wits about them.

Ignis felt Aria tense beside him, and tightened his hold on her. "Let him take care of it," he urged softly. She was in no shape to fight, though she still looked resentful as she settled back against his support.

Once Caedus had dispatched the troopers, they kept moving.

Three more Magitek troopers came out from another bend, but before they could attack, a massive shadow fell over the compound. Ignis looked up to see the huge, bearded figure of Ramuh looming over the base. The god drew back his staff, gathering power before hurtling it into the ground, sending a wave of devastation out from the impact zone.

The troopers twitched and collapsed as power blasted through them. Ignis, Caedus, and Aria stumbled as the ground shook, but were otherwise unharmed by the blast. A few seconds later, the unearthly glow of the Magitek generator disappeared from the air, and the scorched earth returned to normal.

Ignis stood in quiet awe, once again, of the power Noctis had been given.

He was about to suggest they get moving when he heard Aria let out a hissing breath. "Shit... was that the Fulgarian?" she whispered.

Caedus looked at him, face so shocked it was almost comical. He smiled. "Indeed."

The elder man shook his head. "And here I thought I'd gone crazy. Come on... place is toast."

Ignis nodded.

They reunited with Noctis and the others at the base's main entrance. Prompto was immediately aghast at Aria's condition. "Those dirty..." He clenched his fists, but then relaxed, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a potion. "It's not gonna fix everything, but..."

Aria smiled. "At least I won't bleed all over the car..."

Three of the potions from their stock were used before they determined Aria's wounds good enough for the drive back to Lestallum.

Ignis glanced at Caedus as they approached the Regalia. The man was pulling a chocobo whistle from his pocket. "I'll meet you guys back at the Leville. Ivory's probably with Chance, so I'll bring a change of clothes for you too, Aria."

She looked at her ruined clothing. "Appreciate it."

Even though she was leaning on Ignis, Aria straightened a bit as Caedus reached to touch her shoulder. Just that brief contact, and then he was walking away, blowing the whistle as he went.

Ignis gently shifted his grip on Aria in order to open the back door. "Noct... could you drive us back?"

The prince was quiet for a moment, but he nodded. "Sure thing."

"Thank you."


	20. Apologies and Reassurances

**Whew, wasn't that a whirlwind of an arc! Really glad you guys liked it and shared Aria's pain and Iggy's worry! Now for the wind-down and the reward!**

#

By the time they got back to Lestallum, Aria had fallen asleep leaning against him, and Ignis was loathe to wake her for the walk to the Leville. Just as he was about to ask Gladiolus to carry her, though, she stirred awake on her own. "Damn... here already?" she mumbled, lifting herself from his shoulder.

"Yes... don't strain yourself. The potions will take some time to work, with all your injuries..." He reached to support her, and she smiled.

"Tell me about it..." She shifted, gently nudging him with her hip. "Come on, I can at least handle getting to the hotel. I need a bed like you wouldn't believe."

He got out of the car and helped her out, putting his arm around her waist to keep her steady while she draped her less-injured arm around him. Unbidden, Prompto appeared at her other side, not touching her but staying close in case she needed help. Ignis was grateful for that, and for the silence as the five of them made their way to the hotel.

Noctis paid for an extra room at the front desk and turned to the two of them. "You need any help?"

Aria waved him off. "Just need to sleep. Thank you."

There was a second message behind those words, and Ignis watched Noctis nod, the prince apparently fully aware of everything Aria was thanking him for. In his heart, Ignis wondered if they deserved the gratitude. Yes, they'd come for her, but if it weren't for them, she'd never have been in danger in the first place.

He shook himself from those thoughts long enough to help Aria up the stairs, though she was already steadier on her feet. He opened the door to her room and helped her to the bed, letting her sit down.

She let out a long, satisfied sigh even just sitting on the bed, leaning back on her hands. "Gods, I'd forgotten what anything but that damn chair felt like..."

Taking a moment to look her over, Ignis felt a weight on his heart. Her clothes were destroyed, and even tear in them showed an injury... cuts, burns, bruises. There were two nasty cuts on her face that were sure to scar, along with the wounds that seemed to have gone a while without treatment. It was awful.

"Hey, think you can give me a hand?" Her voice snapped his eyes to hers. She was gesturing to the buckles of her bag and harness. "My shoulder's still aching."

"Of course." He managed to keep his voice free of guilt... or he thought he did. Carefully, he undid the buckle of her bag and slid it off her back, setting it carefully aside before doing the same for her harness. Once both were safely aside on the floor, he looked at her again. She rubbed the burn in her shoulder, and he winced at the thought of what wearing her gear must have felt like. "Aria..."

She looked at him, one brow raised.

It felt wrong to be standing. He moved to sit beside her, reached out to take one of her hands. "I'm sorry... I am so sorry I put you through this..." He stared at their hands, unable to meet her eyes. "I put you at risk... didn't even think about your safety...I..."

"Hey, Ignis?" She waited for him to look at her, and then she smiled. "Shut up."

"But..."

Her free hand rose to press two fingers over his lips. "Seriously, shut up. I don't blame you for this. This happened because the Nifs are a bunch of cowards, and they backed me into a corner." There was a bitter note in her voice, but it disappeared as she continued, holding his gaze with hers. "Don't blame yourself."

He held eye contact for a few more seconds, but then his gaze slid down, over her injuries. "... It's difficult not to."

Her hand moved from his lips to the side of his face, her thumb brushing his cheekbone. "Y'know, the whole sad, beautiful man thing can be endearing, but save that brooding for something worth it." She leaned in, pressing a brief kiss to his lips before drawing back a few inches. "Because this was not your fault."

The kiss was more effective at shutting him up than anything else. After the stress of the last two days, it felt something close to heavenly to have her lips on his. Just as he was opening his mouth to speak, she pulled away fully.

"Okay... I think I need a shower." She got to her feet, only showing a slight favouring to her more injured side. Her eyes went to her clothes before she sighed. "Hope Caedus brings clothes soon... wouldn't be good to go shopping for new ones in this." And she pulled her shirt off over her head, with a small pause and a grunt for the discomfort it obviously caused her.

He looked at her, fully intending to warn her of the dangers of straining her injuries, but then his eyes caught on her body, and he forgot what he was about to say. Her skin was tanned even under her top, and he could see several faint scars winding across her stomach and rib cage, even under her...

"Eyes are up here, Iggy." He snapped his gaze away as soon as she spoke, and Aria laughed. "Gods, you act like you've never seen a girl take her top off before."

Did she have to say it like that? He felt his cheeks heating up. "Ah... not in person, anyway..."

That brought a pause, and then his downward-turned eyes saw her bare feet step in front of him. "Really now?"

When he managed to look up, at her _face_ , she was smiling in a way that he was sure wasn't allowed. He didn't know by what rules, but it just didn't seem fair. She reached out and threaded her fingers through his hair, and he couldn't find his voice. Her smile became a grin. "I guess I could put my shower off for a little bit..."

As she leaned over him, his peripheral vision registered the burn on her shoulder. He managed to pull back slightly. "Aria, your injuries..." And gods did he hope he was imagining that tremble in his voice, the heat in his face and... he _really_ hoped he was imagining it.

She drew back in turn, though her hand now rested on his shoulder. "Ignis, I'm hurt, not dying." Then she paused, studied his face. "... If you don't want to..."

He swallowed, and inched his hands forward until they settled on her hips. "... I didn't say that."

Her smile returned, and she leaned over him again, hand shifting to tilt his chin up so she could kiss him. "Then maybe let me worry about what my injuries do and don't prevent, hm?"

#

If you'd like to read how this turns out, go visit loonriderx on tumblr. I'll be posting it in the tag IgnisxAria.


	21. Choices

**Well, whether you read or didn't read the bonus for last chapter, hope you enjoyed! Now we get to see what Ignis' friends thought of his... ahem... lack of return.**

#

Prompto sat in the room he shared with his three friends... or, well, he was supposed to share it with three others. Right now, only two were in the room with him: Noctis still out like a light on the bed near the window, and Gladiolus sitting in the chair next to his, nose in his book. 

"Sooo..."

Gladiolus looked up at him.

"... Ignis never came back from Aria's room last night."

The bodyguard smirked. "No, he didn't."

Prompto fiddled with his camera for a bit before looking up at the older man. "You don't think they...?"

The smirk became a grin. "I _think_ I'm pretty impressed by Aria's stamina. To go through what she did, and then—"

Prompto's hands snapped over his ears. "No no no, not another word! I didn't really want an answer!"

Amidst Gladiolus' uproarious laughter came a sleepy mumble as Noctis turned over in bed. "Can I get some quiet here..."

Gladiolus quieted, looked over at the prince. "Oh, his highness is up early this morning." It was nearly eleven.

Prompto practically spun in his seat to face his friend. "Nooooct! Gladio's being _gross_."

Noctis sat up, scrubbing one hand through his tousled hair. "Wha?"

Gladiolus chuckled. "C'mon, Prompto, didn't you get the whole birds and the bees talk in school?"

"La la la la, not listening!" The young man plugged his ears again.

Letting out a big yawn, Noctis glanced between his two companions, and then he looked around the room. "... Where's Specs?"

Gladiolus fell about laughing again, and Prompto dropped his head into his hands with a mortified groan.

—

Several rooms away, Aria stirred from well-earned sleep, groaning as she tried to burrow away from the sunlight streaming in the window. When her face met skin instead of blankets, she blinked awake to find herself lying atop Ignis, her face pressed into his chest. "... Oh."

She felt the quivers as he chuckled and looked up to find him watching her. "Good morning."

"Mmm... morning." She rolled onto her back, wiggling a little under the covers thrown haphazard over her body. "How long've you been awake?"

He held up his phone in the hand farthest from her in response. "A while. I didn't want to disturb you. You needed rest."

Her arms shifted, got halfway to stretching before her whole body flinched. Oh, nope. Nope, nope, moving was not good. " _Ow_... yeah, no kidding."

Frowning, he lifted himself on his elbow to better look at her... a task made easy by her lack of clothes, she figured. "Are you all right?"

"Mmmaybe?" She groaned, finding a myriad of aches and pains just in trying to stretch her limbs. "You might've had a point last night..." Now that the pain'd had all night to really settle in, she was realizing the consequences of her actions.

Ignis sat up, the covers just barely staying over his hips. "Well... I did warn you..." He sounded sheepish, and was occupying himself in reaching for his glasses from the nightstand.

Slowly working her arms under herself and sitting up with many winces along the way, she smirked at him. "Yeah, well... totally worth it." Really, there was no better way to prove her survival to herself. Even if moving was going to suck for at least a day now.

He simply smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek before sliding to the edge of the bed to begin gathering his clothes. Aria watched him and giggled when his hair, slack without the product that held it in place, dropped in front of his eyes. "First time I've seen you with your hair like that."

Pulling his pants on, he eyed the mess her own long, brown locks made about her shoulders and arms. "Likewise." He smiled again.

She grimaced, pulled her fingers through the locks. "Damn... braiding it's gonna be a pain..."

"You'll not be fighting today." The way he said it almost made it a reprimand. "Why not leave it like this?"

"Aw, is that a request or an order?"

"Take it as you will."

Their mutual smirks fell a bit when there was a knock at the door. Aria pulled the covers over herself as Ignis crossed to open it... only to find Caedus standing there with a little bundle tucked under one arm. The hunter's brows crawled into the space his hairline once was as he surveyed the scene. Then he held the bundle out to Ignis. "Brought the clothes."

Ignis let out a breath.. "Thank you, Caedus." When he nodded and turned on his heel to head down the hall, Ignis let the door close and turned to Aria, who was resting her head on her drawn-up knees. The look on his face made her grin.

"Don't look so tense. He wasn't going to hit you."

"His expression begged to differ." He returned to the bed to hand her the clothes. "Can you... can you dress on your own?"

She let her legs out slowly, setting the bundle aside in order to shift to the edge of the bed. "Depends. Can you help me without blushing your face off?"

"... I can try."

It took them almost ten minutes to achieve that goal, and as Ignis gently pulled Aria's hair out from the collar of her shirt, she let out a sigh. Better sooner than later. "Hey, Ignis..."

He blinked, brushing stray hairs into place before sitting beside her on the bed. "Yes?"

"When you guys go to Altissia... I think I want to come." She'd lain awake thinking about it, considering her options... considering what she wanted. To destroy the empire for what they'd done to her.

When she looked up at Ignis, she found his mouth open in surprise. "... I thought you'd want to stay here, with your work."

She looked away. "It's not like I don't want to do my job, but... damn it, I just spent _days_ getting tortured by Nifs. I don't just want to root for you guys to take them down... I want to make those bastards _pay_." By the end of her sentence, her voice had dropped into a snarl. Her wounds ached anew, as if remembering the blows that had caused them.

For a while, Ignis was silent. She didn't look at him, but she felt him watching her. When he spoke, it was soft and deliberate. "I can't say I don't want you along... especially after this. But... Aria, is this really what you want?" His hand touched her shoulder, feather-light. "You told me that a hunter's job is to help people..."

Leave it to him to throw that in her face. "Well... yeah..."

He sighed, thumb brushing back and forth on her healing injury. "I think you need time to think about it... we won't be ready to leave for a while yet. I'll keep you informed, and you can meet us at Cape Caem when everything is ready... then you can make your decision."

She felt a pout forming on her lips even as she looked back at him, but... fine. "Alright. But my mind won't change."

He smiled. "The mind is a strange thing. We'll see."


	22. Goodbye Again

**... I have got to get into the habit of starting work on these sooner so I'm not uploading them past midnight (my time anyway). Sigh, the woes of an author.**

#

It was two days before Aria could move without pain, all her wounds closed to fresh scars. Ignis had stayed with her for the duration, doing his best to ignore the knowing grins he kept getting from Gladiolus and the judging glances he occasionally noticed from Caedus.

Now, on the morning of the day they were to set out for Cape Caem, he was spending the early hours out shopping with Aria. "I need something besides what Cindy gave me," she had said, and he'd offered to accompany her while the others did their last-minute preparation for the drive.

He watched her as she browsed the racks of one of Lestallum's little shops. She moved with little indication that she'd been barely able to stand mere days ago, but the evidence was there in the scars on her face, the little flinch every time someone got a little too close to her.

After the fifth or sixth such cringe, he moved to her side, touched her arm. "Are you all right?" he asked, soft enough that the other customers couldn't hear him.

He felt her almost draw away from his touch, but then she smiled at him. "... Yeah. Just... gonna take some time to adjust, I think." A grimace crossed her face, her eyes breaking contact with his. "Kinda stupid, jumping every time..."

"No, it's not." His response was immediate. How could she even think that? After what she'd been through, the fact that she'd come out at all was impressive. He sighed, slid his hand down her arm until he could hold her hand. "Anyone would take time to overcome what you went through. Don't be ashamed of it."

The smile returned, and she squeezed his hand before releasing him to flick through the shirts she'd been browsing. "Thanks, Ignis." She stood tall to give him a kiss on the cheek as she selected a dark, flower-patterned shirt. "I'm gonna go try these on."

As she weaved towards the fitting room, he put his hands in his pockets. He wondered if she'd thought about their dicussion of Altissia... he couldn't deny a renewed desire to keep her close, but in his heart he doubted it was the best thing for her. To throw herself against the empire in anger... such recklessness was liable to get her hurt, or worse.

While Aria experimented with clothes, his phone rang. He drew it from his pocket and checked the ID: Noctis. He flicked the screen. "Hello?"

"Hey, Specs. We're all set to go, if you're ready."

He glanced in the direction of the changing rooms. "I think Aria's almost done."

"Okay. Well, Gladio's set on buying out the cup noodle stand before we go, so we'll meet you at the car lot."

"Very well. I'll be there as soon as we're finished." He hung up, looking back at the change rooms in time to see Aria exit, wearing the same flower patterned shirt from before, under a new vest and over a pair of dark pants. With her hair back in its usual braid and her harnesses on, she looked every bit the hunter she was meant to be.

"I am _so_ glad to be in clothes my own size again." She grinned, brandishing the few other items she'd chosen to purchase, which she held alongside the tags of the items she was wearing. "Heard you talking to someone?"

He nodded. "Noct. The others are ready to go."

A shadow flickered across her face, but she smiled again a moment later. "Cool. Better not keep 'em waiting, then."

Paying for and bagging her purchases, Aria walked out of the shop at his side. She stuck closer to him than when they'd arrived at the shop, and he found himself moving closer to her as well, until their sleeves brushed against each other. Soon they'd have to part again...

—

They reached the Regalia in time to see Gladiolus adding about three bags of cup noodles to the trunk. Ignis arched a brow. "... I'd almost suspect you of not liking my cooking, Gladio."

The big man smiled, scratching the back of his neck. "Aw, c'mon Iggy, you know it's not like that. I just figured we don't know when we'll come across another cup noodle stand again, so I decided to stock up."

"Indeed." Ignis couldn't keep the little smile from his face, especially with Iris standing behind her brother and shaking her head.

"Gladdy, I think you went a bit overboard," she giggled.

While the siblings got into a discussion over the absolute necessity of cup noodles, Ignis turned to Aria, who was watching the exchange with a raised brow. "Well... I suppose this is where we part again."

"Yeah..." She pulled her braid over her shoulder to toy with, and then she sighed, pushed it behind her once again. "Well, I'll see you in Caem." She tapped a finger against his chest. "And stay in touch in the meantime, hm?"

"Naturally." He leaned down to give her a brief kiss... only to have her grab his jacket and hold him there for a much longer one. He couldn't say it wasn't pleasant, but he was very aware of the audience mere feet away.

As if on cue, he heard Gladiolus' voice, the man apparently having either won or given up on the debate with his sister. "Hey, lovebirds, you gonna stop to breathe any time soon?"

He parted from Aria in order to give the Shield a dirty look despite the heat in his cheeks. Aria, on the other hand, didn't seem embarassed in the slightest. "The good kissers know how to breathe without breaking contact," she retorted.

Oh, Six, he wished she hadn't started that. Gladiolus raised a _very_ intrigued eyebrow. "Oh, really? Iggy's learned quick, huh?"

Fortunately, Noctis came to Ignis' rescue. "And we're not talking about _that_ any more." Clearly, Prompto wasn't the only one who had problems with discussing the details of romance. Ignis was enormously grateful for that shyness, right then. "C'mon, Specs, we better get going."

"Right." He nodded, turned back to Aria. "I'll text you tonight."

"I'll be waiting." She smiled, giving him one last kiss, on the cheek thank gods, before gently pushing him towards the car.

As he started the Regalia and began to pull out of Lestallum's car park, he couldn't help glancing in the rearview mirror, where Aria stood waving until the car mounted the ramp and was away.


	23. Lesson

**I must say, I'm absolutely touched by how many of you feel for Ignis and Aria when they split up. It's the sweetest thing. We're going to mix it up a bit this chapter in that we'll be getting into the head of our favourite grumpy hunter, Caedus!**

#

Caedus couldn't have been happier to finally leave Lestallum behind. He'd never been one for cities, more inclined to the smaller outposts or the cabin he occasionally called home when he wasn't out working.

Aria, he noticed, was not in the highest spirits when they set out, the day after she'd bid goodbye to Ignis. The thought of the man made Caedus frown. He was well aware of what had taken place between the advisor and his student, and he wasn't sure if he considered the man worthy just yet.

Yes, he'd been afraid for Aria when she was kidnapped, and yes, he and his friends had been instrumental in rescuing her. But they'd also been responsible for her being in danger in the first place. Caedus didn't know if Ignis, or even Aria, realized what consequences their relationship could have.

When the cab out of Lestallum dropped them off at the waypoint, they found Chance and Ivory in the small nearby shed meant for resting chocobos, napping away. They greeted their riders cheerfully when roused, and both hunters loaded their saddle bags and mounted.

After riding for nearly ten minutes with no conversation, Caedus sighed. "Alright, girl, you gonna keep moping forever?"

"I'm not moping," was her immediate response, an indignant pout on her lips.

"Yes you are. And given what happened, I wouldn't blame you, but if you're just sour about Ignis..."

"I'm sour about the Nifs," she snapped before he could make any real comment. He watched her fingers clench around Ivory's reins. "Just 'cause you can't get a date doesn't mean you have to take pot shots at my love life, y'know."

He frowned, but refrained from comment on that. "Ain't taking pot shots, just trying to get you to focus on the moment. We're back in the wilderness, now; it's gonna be time to get to work."

"I know that." She sighed, glaring out at the horizon. "And I guess we gotta keep an eye out for imperials now, too, if they've still got me marked."

"As long as we're on the move, I doubt they'll target you. Not after losing an entire base over it." And if they did, they didn't have any civilians to worry about. He'd fight like a daemon to keep her out of Nif hands.

"I guess." She didn't sound entirely pleased about that, which drew another frown from him. He didn't say anything on the matter yet.

"I vote we head for Burbost. The tipster there should have work for us."

She made no argument, and they put Ivory and Chance on the correct path and set the birds off at a trot.

—

The journey passed with minimal smalltalk, occasionally racing their chocobos along longer stretches. They were passing a garula herd when the sound reached Caedus' ears: mechanical humming. He lifting his gaze to find an imperial transport cruising overhead, passing over the hills to the south of them.

Aria saw it too. "What're they up to..." Before he could tell her it didn't matter, she'd turned Ivory and driven him into a sprint up the hill.

"Aria!" he growled, sprinting Chance after her. Fortunately, she stopped at the crest of the hill, and when he stopped next to her, he saw what had her attention: an imperial base. It looked like it was just being set up. The Magitek generator was up, but didn't look like it was running yet. "The transport's probably flying in supplies," he said, hoping to deter her from further investigation.

"Doesn't look like it's fully operational yet... the two of us alone could probably wreak some havoc." She kicked her heels into Ivory, and the chocobo started down the hill towards the base.

"Stop!" He drove Chance forward, pulling him in front of Ivory, who stopped with a protesting flap of his wings. "What the _hell_ are you thinking?"

Her eyes narrowed, hands tight on Ivory's reins like she wanted to just veer around him. "I'm thinking those bastards are gonna make life hard around here, and we could cut them off at the knees!"

"And what good will that do? All we'll achieve is pissing them off and giving them a real reason to seek you out. We're _hunters_ , Aria. The empire won't mess with us unless we mess with them first."

"First?! Did you forget the last week, Caedus? They kidnapped me! You forgotten what they did to me?"

That struck a nerve. "Like hell I have!" he shouted, startling Chance into puffing out his feathers. "Damn it, Aria, you're not thinking! The ones who took you, the ones who... _tortured_ you... they're dead. No one lived to tell anyone where you went. The Nifs aren't gonna chase someone who didn't give them a single damn lead!" He took a breath, trying to calm himself down.

Aria was not giving him the courtesy of doing the same. "So what? There's still goddamn imperials all over Lucis! There's still imperials in _Insomnia_ , and I'm not gonna sit around any more waiting for someone else to solve the problem. You may not have a home any more, but I _do_ , and I won't let the Nifs have it!"

His insides turned to stone, and a second after she finished speaking, Aria's eyes widened, as if she'd realized what she'd just said.

"Caedus, I—"

"When the empire took Tenebrae," he interrupted with ice in his voice, "I wasn't there. I was away, working. Left Tami to take care of the kids." His wife's name almost locked in his throat, but he kept speaking. "And when I heard the news of what happened in the capital, I raced home faster than I thought possible, but the battle was already over. Tenebrae was lost."

He took another breath, steadying himself. "The Nifs were more concerned about the royal children, about the Oracle, so it wasn't hard for me to get to my house amidst all the carnage. I found my oldest daughter's body just inside the front door. She was holding one of my swords. I found Tami and our two sons inside, executed for resistance. Anyone who resisted the empire that day died, from queen to commoner."

She was staring at the grass, now, refusing to meet his eyes. "So... what...? You think if they'd surrendered, they'd still be alive? You think we should just roll over and let Niflheim take everything we are?"

"I'm not saying surrender is the better option, Aria. I'm saying there's a time and a place for resistance: a time and a place for fighting something this big." He turned Chance to look out over the base, at the Magitek generator powering up. "I'll never know if my family thought that day was that time, that place... but I know that it isn't now. I know that two hunters can't take on an empire and live." He looked back at her. "And I know I'll be cold in my grave before I let you charge off into a fight you can't win."

She looked up at him, and then out at the base. "... I just feel so useless," she admitted after a long moment of silence.

He moved Chance closer so he could reach out and touch her shoulder. "Ask Ioshua and his family if you're useless. Ask Ignis. Ask _me_." He nudged her, and she had to wriggle to stay balanced in Ivory's saddle. "You're the farthest thing from useless, girl. You just gotta keep being you, and we'll get through this just fine."

Finally, she smiled. And she nodded, albeit a bit weakly. "... Alright."

"Good. Now let's go before this eyesore ruins the mood any more."

As they spurred their birds away, Caedus hoped Aria truly understood what he'd tried to say to her. He knew it would be a while before she recovered completely from what happened to her... but he didn't want to see her go down a dark path because of it.


	24. Guy Talk

**Hi all! So once again it's almost midnight my time and the planned chapter is not cooperating but I don't want to break schedule so you all get a bonus chapter earlier than intended!**

#

Ignis had thought it was trouble when he only had to deal with the whims of his three companions: Prompto's detours for photo shoots or Noctis' sudden burning need to see the fish he could catch from whatever body of water they were passing. But with Iris in the mix, it was so much worse.

She'd been studying the map on their first day of driving, and had decided that they had to detour to the River Wennath because it was supposed to be beautiful this time of year. Right off, Noctis was on board because it was a prime fishing spot, and Prompto was raring for a riverside photoshoot. When Ignis thought he'd get back up from Gladiolus, he was sorely disappointed when all the bodyguard did was point out there was a haven in the area, so they could even spend the night.

He'd relented, and now he was in the middle of setting up his grill as Gladiolus finished hammering in the spikes for the tent. Once Noctis finished his task of securing the tarp over the tent in case of rain, he turned to look towards the river. "I'm gonna catch some dinner while there's still daylight." And he did a very poor job of disguising his excitement at the prospect.

"I'll go with you! Be great to get some sunset shots while we're out," Prompto volunteered immediately.

And then Iris piped up, "I'm coming too! It's been a long time since I watched Noct fish!"

"Great! You can model for me!" Prompto clapped her on the back.

"Hey, don't get fresh with my sister, Prompto!"

"Aw, Gladdy, you know it's not like that!" Iris giggled, hooking one arm with Prompto and the other with a less-willing Noctis. "Let's go!"

As the three headed off, Ignis caught Gladiolus scowling and smiled. "Just remember, it was your idea to have her along with us rather than Dustin and Monica."

"Yeah, well... she needed the company..."

Ignis knew the real reason. After what happened to Jared, and to Aria, Gladiolus was not willing to let his sister far from his side on such a long journey. He understood the man's fears, and thus said nothing more against it.

Gladiolus seemed more than pleased to take up the slack in conversation though. As Ignis started warming the pan for some fried vegetables to accompany the fish Noctis would inevitably bring back, the Shield settled into his camp chair. "So... you and Aria?"

Oh, Six... he'd known this was coming. He kept his back to his friend. "... What about us?"

"Nothin', really, just wanted to know how that's going." He could _hear_ the smirk that was being aimed at his back.

"Just fine, thank you." And gods, let that be the end of it.

No such luck. "Only 'fine'? C'mon, Iggy, you can do better than that." The camp chair creaked, and Ignis resisted the urge to look back even as Gladiolus sidled up next to him and clasped his shoulder. "Really, I'm proud of you. Thought for sure you'd marry your work, but here you are, spending nights with her and everything."

He shrugged off the hand and tried to ignore the way his face was starting to burn. "There's nothing wrong with dedication to one's work... _or_ with two adults choosing to spend a night together."

"So?"

"'So', what?" He picked up a piece of chopped pepper to taste, more to occupy his hands than anything else.

"So how was it? That was your first time, wasn't it?"

He nearly choked, going into a coughing fit before shoving an elbow into the bodyguard's chest that did absolutely nothing to move him. "Gladio!"

Gladiolus laughed, making a show of rubbing the spot Ignis' elbow had connected with. "What? I'm just asking!"

"About something that's surely none of your business!"

"Ho, someone's touchy! Did she laugh at it or something?"

 _Stars_ , why was he friends with this man. Ignis nearly sputtered, whether from indignation or embarassment even he wasn't sure. "Nothing of the sort!"

Gladiolus opened his hands, still grinning like a jester. "Then why so defensive if it went so well?"

"Because you've no right to ask! What happened that night is between Aria and I and no one else." He was trying, without a lot of success, to get his voice back under control in the vain hope it would help his pulse and his blushing calm down as well.

"Iggy, Iggy, Iggy..." Gladiolus shook his head, and the indulgent patience in his tone made Ignis want to hit him all over again. "You're new, but you gotta know guys _talk_ about this stuff. It's bonding!"

"Well, then you'll just have to make do with how our 'bonds' are as they stand, because I am _not_ saying any more on the matter!" He spun back to his cooking.

When Iris came running back to fetch a change of lens from Prompto's camera kit, she found a blushing advisor, a snickering bodyguard, and some slightly burnt veggies.


	25. Saviors of Another Story

**So I realized about five minutes before starting work on this chapter that the Burbost area doesn't have a diner and therefore no tipster. For my purposes, I'm gonna pretend it does... but even so we're gonna kinda glaze over it because woops my bad haha. There were earlier requests in the review to see Aria take down a big beast and for her and Caedus to have a link strike. I know the midgardsormr isn't an elder coeurl or a malboro but c'mon now, baby steps.**

#

Aria looked out down the ridge. She could see the massive form of the midgardsormr snake coiling and uncoiling at the river's edge. Something had the creature agitated. "So that's our target?" She glanced at Caedus.

"Uh huh," he confirmed, frowning. "Tipster wasn't kidding; any hunter taking on that thing alone... no wonder he didn't come back."

It had been two days since a man named Yosef had apparently taken on a job to get rid of the giant serpent. He had never reported back to the tipster, and based on what they were seeing... he was either badly injured or dead. Aria was leaning towards the latter, but even if that was it, they had a duty as fellow hunters to retrieve Yosef's tags and take them to Dave for delivery to the man's family.

Aria took a breath, glanced at her teacher. "So what do you think? Snipe and then move in for the kill?"

Caedus shook his head. "No, even rifle shots may not do enough damage, and with how riled it is, you'd have a hard time aiming." He set his hand on the hilt of his katana. "We'll have to do this up close and personal. Get in, hit, get out, repeat."

She smiled. "Death by a thousand cuts?" Her swords cleared their sheaths, and she nodded. "Sounds good to me."

They charged down the hill together, splitting up as they came within range of the serpent's senses and it spun to face them. It turned first to Aria, rearing up high before striking. She jumped back, and Caedus lunged in from behind, gashing it along the back of its hood. It whipped around to face this new threat, and Aria danced in, delivering two quick slashes that gouged out several scales before leaping back again.

The monster's tail swept around, almost sweeping out Caedus' legs as the snake made another attempt to bite Aria's head off. The woman backpedaled hard, but didn't have to worry for long as Caedus' katana cut the last foot off the beast's tail.

And so the deadly dance went, each one serving as diversion and attacker when the need suited.. The midgardsormr lost blood and scales while being unable to catch its tormentors, whose reflexes allowed them to escape by a narrow margin each time.

Its blood was staining the rocks, and the creature was getting more desperate. Its shortened tail swung again, this time managing to hit Aria's legs, and she crashed to the ground. Caedus was at her side in a seconds, an upperhanded slash catching the serpent in the chin and driving it away. "Aria, go!" he ordered, bracing himself with a wide stance.

She rolled to her feet, crossing the distance to him in two great strides before jumping. One foot landed on his shoulder, pushing off as she launched herself for the back-rearing serpent. Her swords sang in a cross-slash that opened up the beast's throat under its chin.

Kicking off its thrashing body, Aria landed next to Caedus and the two of them retreated as the beast writhed. After a few more moments, it stilled, and Aria exhaled, letting herself lean on her knees for a bit. "Damn... tough son of a bitch." Or maybe she just wasn't as in shape as she'd thought she was when she'd decided she was okay to hunt.

"Are you all right?" Caedus frowned as he wiped down his blade.

"Yeah." She straightened, wiping down her own swords before all three blades slid back into their sheaths. Rolling her shoulders, she sighed. "Just need to get back into the swing of it, is all."

He smiled, though didn't look entirely convinced. "You'll get there. Come on, let's see if we can find Yosef."

 _Or whatever's left of him_ , Aria added to herself as she followed Caedus across the rocks. Then she paused, looking down. "Hey..." She knelt next to a blood trail on the rocks leading back into the brush. "This isn't from the fight."

Caedus followed her gaze, nodded. "Come on."

They followed the trail off the rocks and into the bushes. Someone had been moving, slow but steady. The bleeding wasn't severe, but it was clear the injury was bad enough to have stopped the average person... It wasn't long before they found what they were looking for: a man, laid back against a stout tree hidden behind the rocks that formed the path down to the area. There was a bite wound in his shoulder that had bled through his shirt all the way down his torso. His eyes were closed.

Aria rushed to kneel at his side, fingers pressing into his neck. "He's still alive!" She pulled a hi-potion from her vest, practically breaking it in her hurry to administer it.

The wound was old, but as Aria moved Yosef's shirt aside, she watched the ragged, scabby thing seal over more effectively. The potion was working. He stirred, opening green eyes to slits. "Wh..."

"Easy." Caedus knelt to touch his good shoulder. "You're gonna be okay now."

"We better get him out of here. Call ahead to Burbost; they'll need to have an ambulance come out from Lestallum. He needs proper treatment." Aria helped Caedus lift the man as she spoke, and then she moved to support him so Caedus could pull out his phone to do as she'd asked.

"Thought I was a goner..." Yosef mumbled, most of his weight on Aria's shoulders.

She took hold of the arm slung around her, smiled a bit. "So did I, but it seems the world's not done with you just yet."

—

Once Yosef was safely on his way to Lestallum and they had collected the reward for the midgardsormr's slaying, the two hunters chose to rent the caravan and collapsed into the chairs outside it after a decent dinner. "Man... I like finding injuries instead of corpses." Aria grinned.

"Feels pretty good," Caedus agreed, leaning back in his chair. "There's few enough of us as it is, these days. Don't need anyone else dying for no good reason."

She frowned, shifted to lean her elbows on her knees. "Why do you think that is? That there's so few of us, I mean. Seems like more and more hunters turn up dead every time I blink."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "Fact is, the job's just getting more dangerous. Since a lot of hunters work alone, it's real easy for them to get in too deep, like Yosef did. And not just with beasts, either. The daemons are getting worse... read some papers sayin' it's 'cause the nights are getting longer, but who knows."

"So the stuff the Oracle's said... about the growing darkness... you think it's true?"

"Who can say." He didn't look at her. So he was worried about it.

She shook her head. "Well... guess we've got more issues than just the empire." She glanced at her phone: no messages. "I'm turning in."

—

 _Dark. She didn't know if it was the lighting or a slow loss of consciousness. Blow after blow. Laugh after laugh._

 _Blade. Shock. Heat. Heat! It burned, it_ _ **burned**_ _!_

Aria's eyes snapped open. The trailer was dark, Caedus asleep in one of the beds on the other side. She sighed, rolling onto her back and pressing her hands against her face. It wasn't the first time she'd dreamt of her torture, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last, but _damn it_...

She pulled her phone from her pocket. It was late...

Nope, didn't care. She opened her messages.

 _That great brain of yours doesn't happen to have a cure for bad dreams, does it?_

Regret set in almost as soon as she hit send. Wow, that sounded less pitiful in her head. Shoving her phone back under her pillow, she rolled onto her side, resolved to get some sleep.

Ding!

... What? Out the phone came again.

 _Are you having nightmares?_

Oh, good, he was awake. Why was he awake? What the hell did those boys get up to when they travelled?

She sighed, resigning herself to the conversation started by her weakness.

 _Maybe._

 _I'd be more surprised if you weren't. How are the hunts going?_

The question made her blink, but then she smiled. He was trying to distract her, the damn sweetie.

 _Really good, actually. We got to rescue a hunter today, felt pretty good to bring him back instead of just his tags. Mind you, the midgardsormr we had to fight to accomplish it wasn't a cakewalk._

 _A midgardsormr? My, you've been busy._

 _Yeah, doesn't take long for me to find trouble ;)_

 _And I'm sure you'll find more tomorrow. Think you can get back to sleep?_

She hesitated, fingers tightening around the phone. Then, once again, she smiled.

 _Yeah. I think I'll be okay. Thanks, Ignis._

 _You are most welcome. Goodnight._

 _Night._


	26. Wish You Were Here

**Some more bridging chapters until the fun stuff starts again! ... Okay no I just wanted an excuse to write Aranea so sue me.**

#

Ignis didn't know what to think of Gladiolus' departure. The Shield could take care of himself, certainly, but something about dividing their group didn't sit well with him.

And now Ardyn was back and offering them assistance in the form of Aranea Highwind. Ignis didn't know what to think of her either, given that she'd made an effort to kill them not too long ago. An abruptly aborted effort, but nonetheless.

They'd arrived at Steyliff Grove in late afternoon, and now he stood leaning against a tree out of hearing range of their imperial hosts, as the doors of the dungeon would not open with the sun in the sky. Noctis and Prompto stood near him. The prince was visibly uneasy. "What do you guys think?" he asked, frowning as he glanced towards the commodore.

Ignis sighed. "Difficult to say. If she's truly only motivated by money, then we shouldn't see any problems. It's the chancellor that worries me... he's constantly going out of his way to help us."

"Maybe he just really likes us? Or... really likes Noct, anyway." Prompto shrugged.

That was exactly what had Ignis concerned.

Their conversation drifted into unrelated things, carrying them through until Aranea called out to them.

"Hey! The sun's starting to go down, so if you boys have any last-minute prep to get done, better get to it!"

Noctis frowned. "Well, isn't she bossy."

"Not hard to see her leadership style, I suppose." Ignis shrugged as he straightened. Might as well get this over with.

—

The resigned attitude didn't last long. As soon as they reached the inside of the dungeon proper, Ignis' breath was stolen away. The light of the moon filtered down through what seemed to be the surface of the water in the grove. He could even see fish flitting this way and that. "Beautiful beyond words..." Truly, he couldn't think of anything else to say.

Beside him, Aranea was shaking her head in disbelief. " _That_ is pretty neat."

Even as the conversation carried on, Ignis' eyes were roving the place. He wished he had time to really explore and appreciate it, without the threat of the daemons that dwelt there. As it was, he drew out his phone for a moment (unsurprised that their apparent submersion did as much to affect the device as it did to affect their lungs), flipping over to the camera. He took two quick shots: one facing up to the water's surface, and one pointing down to where the light danced off the distance floor.

Aranea turned to him just as he was pocketing the phone again. "You sightseeing?"

"Simply taking a memory," he answered, trying not to blush. "There's someone I wish could see this."

She raised a brow. "You got a girlfriend? You don't seem the type."

"All respect, Commodore, but we've barely met. How do you know what 'type' I am?" He frowned, and she chuckled.

"Fair enough. Well come on, loverboy, keep your head in the game."

She certainly didn't act like someone who'd tried to murder them last week. He shook his head, following her and his two friends deeper into the dungeon.

—

Once they'd found what they were after, and nearly lost their heads to the dungeon's mightiest occupant, Aranea surprised them once again with the offer of a ride to Lestallum to have the mythril treated. After loading the Regalia into her airship, the three friends settled down to rest from the exertions.

"Well, that was fun. Let's never go there again," Prompto groaned, rubbed his shoulder where he'd been blown into the wall by the wind from the beast's wings. "Unless Gladio's with us, and then we can make him fight all the big stuff."

Noctis chuckled. "Darn right."

Ignis only smiled, flicking through his phone until he found the pictures. He sent both to Aria, adding a caption:

 _'Don't know if you're awake, but we've just been to the most incredible place I've ever seen. It was as if the whole dungeon was underwater, but we were moving through air. I wish you could have seen it. The pictures don't do it justice.'_

He leaned back, smiling to himself. Noctis had already fallen asleep, slumped against Prompto's uninjured shoulder.

#

Apologies for the broken flow of this chapter, but I really wanted to write a bit about the Steyliff Grove dungeon and Aranea, both to introduce her to this story and because I absolutely LOVED this dungeon. So pretty.


	27. A Brief Reunion

**Hope everyone's still having a good time with this story! We draw ever closer to the shitstorm that is Altissia...**

#

Aria wasn't one to sleep in while camping. In a hotel room or her own bed, sure, she wanted to snuggle in and never leave, but in the tent, the sounds of the outside beckoned her at sunrise. Caedus was up even earlier, already cooking a breakfast of toast over the fire when she poked her head out of the tent.

He tossed her a slice, which she caught with a smile before disappearing back into the tent to get dressed. Holding it in her mouth, she pulled her pants and shirt on, and then continued to munch as she checked her phone.

Ignis had apparently texted her in the wee hours of the morning. She zoomed in on the pictures he'd sent, looking at the ripples of the water and the way the light played in the bottom image. Damn... she wished she'd been there too.

 _'Maybe we can go back when things aren't as hellish. I'd love to see it.'_

She'd pulled her vest on and was checking her curative pouches when her phone chimed.

 _'Maybe we could. For now, we're finally on our way to Cape Caem to depart. Think you could get there by tonight?'_

 _'Well, we're up by Cauthess, so it may take us half the day, but we'll meet you there.'_

 _'Alright. I'll see you soon.'_

Despite herself, she smiled.

 _'It's a date.'_

Then she grinned at the thought that she might have made him blush. Pocketing her phone, she strapped on her harness and rifle bag as she stepped out of the tent. "Ignis and the guys are heading for Caem. We better pack up."

He nodded, but as he got to his feet to help her take down the tent, he spoke up. "So you still thinkin' about going with them?"

She paused midway to removing the first spike. She'd told Caedus about that idea before they'd left Lestallum, but they hadn't discussed it since. Now she frowned, shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe."

He left it at that, and they went about packing up their camp in silence before calling Chance and Ivory to them.

—

Travel by chocobo wasn't the most efficient thing in Eos, so it was mid-afternoon by the time they got to Cape Caem, and Aria wasn't surprised to find the Regalia already parked on the side of the road. They steered Ivory and Chance up the hill until they came to a rough-looking old house. Prompto was standing outside talking to Iris, whom Aria had met only briefly in Lestallum, and he spun when they approached. "Hey!" He waved before running up to where they'd pulled their birds to a stop. "Ignis said you'd be coming! Is this your chocobo?" He leaned towards Ivory, the desire to pet him painfully obvious.

Aria smiled as she dismounted. "Officially, Ivory belongs to Wiz, but I'm pretty much the only person who rides him." And she eyed his twitching hands before grinning. "Go ahead. He loves attention, and so does Chance." She nodded to Caedus' bird, but Prompto was already distracted by rubbing Ivory's neck as the bird cooed gleefully in response.

"Aww! Your name's Ivory? Such a good boy!"

She couldn't help laughing at how delighted Prompto was. "Good grief, don't lay it on too thick or he'll be impossible to handle."

"Aria!" The new voice turned her head to where Ignis had just emerged from the house. He came down the steps to greet her, one hand reaching out to take hers in a gesture so natural she barely registered it. "I'm glad you're here."

Had he forgotten her ambitions? She smiled anyway. "Good to see you didn't get into trouble without me."

"Nothing we couldn't handle." He glanced at Prompto, who was now being nudged by both Ivory and Chance as the birds competed for attention. He chuckled. "I see your chocobo's made a new friend."

She grinned. "Yeah, I'm not sure whose heart melted first, there."

"Monica and I have just prepared lunch while Cid works on the boat. Would you care to come in? I'll introduce you to her, as well as Dustin and Talcott." He turned to her teacher, who'd been standing by with his arms crossed. "You as well, Caedus."

"How kind of you." Caedus snorted, and Aria rolled her eyes.

"He means 'thank you', of course. We'd love to." Hands still entwined, they climbed the stairs again, where Iris stood grinning.

"Hey, Aria! How was the ride over here?"

"Smooth as could be expected." She smiled at the younger woman. "Bet not as cushy as your ride in the Regalia, though."

"Maybe not, but chocobos are a whole lot cuter!"

They laughed their way into the house, Prompto almost reluctantly disengaging from the chocobos to join them.

—

That evening, Aria stood overlooking the garden Iris had started cleaning up. She leaned on the surrounding fence, watching the stars start to emerge, not quite hidden by the small number of lights scattered about Caem.

She heard a crunch behind her, and wasn't surprised to hear Ignis' voice a second later. "Care for some company?"

"Wouldn't say no." She smiled as he stepped up beside her, leaning his shoulder against hers.

"The boat should be finished tonight. We'll be ready to leave come tomorrow morning," he said, and she frowned, brushing hair out of her face.

"I've been thinking about what I said, back in Lestallum."

"About coming with us?" He shifted to look at her, but she kept her gaze on the rows of soil.

"Yeah." She dropped her eyes to her hands, resting on the old wood of the railing. "I'm not sure any more, Ignis.

His arm draped over her shoulders, a loose gesture of support. "What's causing your second thoughts?" he asked, as if he himself hadn't suggested her taking time to consider the choice.

She shook her head, bit back a chuckle. "Pretty much exactly what you said: a hunter's job is to help people, and the people in Lucis need a lot of help." A sigh escaped her, then, and she looked up at him from the corner of her eye. "But it's more than that. After we split up... I almost made a really stupid call. Almost charged headlong into an imperial base." She felt his arm tense around her. He definitely didn't like that idea... and in the days she'd had to contemplate it, honestly, neither did she. "... Caedus stopped me, but I... I think about what the empire did... to Insomnia, to my mom, to _me_... and I just get angry... so angry it almost makes me sick."

His arm relaxed some, though he did draw her closer to his side. "That's to be expected. They've done unspeakable things."

Her eyes narrowed. "Damn right they have." Then she relaxed, leaned into him. "But you know... it's kind of scaring me... I mean, when I think, I know I have to be rational and choose my battles... but in the moment, I just wanna kill the bastards; I can't help it. Caedus has been telling me that shit's gonna get me killed for years."

He frowned, looked down to meet her eyes as she looked up at him. "You're worried about fighting the empire?"

"I'm worried about doing something stupid while fighting the empire." She averted her gaze. "If I screw up because I can't control my anger, I could put you in danger. Or I could put Noctis in danger, or Prompto or Gladiolus. I couldn't... I couldn't take that, letting one of your friends get hurt... letting _you_ get hurt." Her eyes slid closed, unwilling to even try to look at him. "I mean, hunting... I can do that. I'm good at that. I just think... I'd be better off here, being useful, than going with you and being a risk."

"Aria..." His fingers brushed her chin, turning her head up to look at him. He waited for her to open her eyes before he spoke. "I think you're incredible, and I trust you to keep yourself and everyone you're fighting with safe in battle." He leaned down, brushing her lips with his before smiling. "But this is about what you believe, so if this is your choice, I won't argue."

She couldn't help but smile back at him. "Thanks, Ignis."

A moment was spent in silence, and then he averted his gaze back to the house, a little smirk playing on his face. "Well, I suppose Caedus will be happy to know we won't be spending countless nights together in Altissia; I'm told it's quite a romantic city."

A blink. Two blinks. Then she burst out laughing, almost doubling over if not for his arm keeping her upright. It was a while before she'd got her breath back to speak. "I can't believe you just said that!"

He grinned. "Got you to laugh, didn't it?"

She wiped away the tears her laughing fit had caused, smacking his shoulder. "You're bad. Wouldn't have expected that when I met you."

One hand adjusted his glasses. "I'm sure there's a great many things you wouldn't have expected of me."

Now she had to fire back. "Yeah, like you being a virgin."

His face went from normal to tomato in about ten seconds, and she burst into cackles. "Aria!"

He shoved her, and all she could do was grin. "What? You wanted me to laugh!"

#

I started this chapter with a bad case of the ughs, so it turned REALLY fluffy to cheer myself up. Next chapter, we begin the journey to the shitstorm!


	28. Toward the Storm

**Okay, I'm gonna do a bit of an opinion poll. Those of you reading this story, what do you want to see between now and the Leviathan rite? Would you like to see Aria and Caedus go on more hunts? Or would you rather I keep the bridging chapters to a minimum and get to Leviathan as quickly as possible?**

#

The morning came too soon. Breakfast was a casual affair, everyone talking about how beautiful Altissia was supposed to be, and their hopes that the rite with Leviathan would go smoothly. Sitting next to Ignis, Aria couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. She'd almost forgotten that the whole point of going to Altissia was to awaken the sea goddess.

Cid left first, to do one last check on the boat. Cor left with him, talking quietly about something or other. Dustin and Monica worked to clean up as Talcott went outside with Iris to look after the garden.

Aria got to her feet as Gladiolus was goading Noctis for one last spar before they left. She felt Ignis' eyes on her as she crossed the dining room and exited the house. Breathing the sea air in deeply, she let her feet take her up to the lighthouse and circled around it to get a proper view of the ocean beyond.

Ignis was beside her quickly enough that he must have followed her the whole way. As he stepped to her side, she felt his fingers brush hers. "Did you want to be alone?"

"No. Just... wanted to think." She took his hand in hers, squeezed gently as she looked at him. "What's the endgame for all this? Lady Lunafreya awakens the gods, who give Noctis their blessing... and then what? How is all this supposed to save Lucis?"

A little sigh escaped him, and he turned from her to look out over the water. "I admit, I've wondered that myself. The crystal, the prophecy, the King of Light... it all seems larger than life, larger than us." He smiled, then. "But I believe in Noct, and I'll do all I can to help him. If the stars themselves say he's meant to save the world, who am I to argue?"

"That's a lot to expect of one guy." She felt his thumb brush over the back of her hand, and squeezed his in response. "But I guess that's why he has you."

He nodded. "Yes, and Prompto and Gladio as well." He released her hand and turned to enfold her in his arms. "When things are too much, we have each other... and I have you."

She smiled, reached up to touch the side of his face before standing tall to kiss him. "Right. Just make sure I still have you at the end of all this. Leviathan is not known for being the gentlest of the gods."

The kiss seemed to not be enough for him, as he bowed his head to claim her lips once more, one hand sliding up to her neck beneath her braid. When they parted, he rested his forehead against hers. "Perhaps not, but I don't fear the anger of the sea."

—

When all the final checks were done and the last goodbyes were said, Aria stood with Iris and Talcott on the docks. As they ran to the edge, she stood and waved from the main section until the boat was out of sight.

Talcott lowered his arms, looking back at Iris and Aria. "They're gonna be okay, right?"

Iris put her hands on his shoulders. "Of course they will."

Aria said nothing, crossing her arms over her chest even as Cor and Caedus came to stand with them. The marshal was frowning out at the disappearing wake of the boat. "As long as they're together, they should be just fine."

#

Ssssshort chapter! Let me know your opinions in the reviews!


	29. Stories and Concerns

**Well, the votes are in, and the overwhelming opinion seems to be for Leviathan to come ASAP! You guys are all so mean to poor Ignis, haha. So, at most there will be three filler chapters between here and the rite (yes, counting this one). For today, I have less than an hour of free time to get this done so here we go with a super-short Caedus chapter!**

#

"You've really fought cactuars?" Talcott was leaning so far forward in his kitchen chair that there was a real risk he'd fall off. Caedus, sitting in the chair beside him, smiled.

"Sure have. And I'll tell ya, those things aren't easy to take down." He wiggled his fingers, trying to mimic the spiny needles of the creatures he was speaking of. "When they launch those needles, you're either out of the way, or you're a pincushion." His smile became something of a smirk. "The first time Aria fought one, she got hit and couldn't sit down for two days."

"I did not!" snapped the woman standing behind the kitchen counter with Monica. She threw the dish-drying towel in her hand at him, which he caught with little effort. "I took the needles in my _leg_ and could sit down just fine, thanks."

He chuckled, tossing the towel back to her. "Whatever you say."

It was the day after the guys had left, and after both Iris and Talcott asking if they'd stick around, they'd relented to spending a bit of time at Caem with the others. Cor had left that morning with the promise that if he found something they could help with, he'd give them a call.

Caedus watched Talcott jump out of his chair and head outside, probably to talk to Iris about the story he'd just been told. Then the man leaned back in his own chair. He wasn't sure if he wanted Cor to need their help or not. If he did need help, odds were good that it'd be against the empire. Caedus didn't know if Aria could handle going against them right now.

Looking up at the sound of laughter, he watched her joking with Monica about something he couldn't quite hear, the women speaking under their breath. To all appearances, she'd recovered from her ordeal, but her actions when confronted with the imperial base worried him. Still, he was proud of her for choosing to stay in Lucis, where she could do real good as a hunter. And where he could keep an eye on her, to keep her safe.

Niflheim had taken his family from him once. It would not happen again.


	30. Investigation and Discovery

**Sorry for the stubby chapters recently! Last few days have been a bit chaotic for me. To make up for it, here's a longer one taking the perspective of a character we don't hear much from throughout the game: Cor!**

#

All reassurances aside, Cor was worried about the boys. Despite it all, that was still how he saw them: boys, thrown into the maelstrom of responsibility and told to swim. But they had each other, as he'd had his friends thirty years before. All he could do was put his faith in that bond, and in the skill and friendship he'd witnessed when he fought alongside them.

He sat in the Crow's Nest diner at the Taelpar rest area, sipping a coffee and listening to the other patrons discuss local news. The tipster was engaged in conversation with an older woman a few seats down from where Cor leaned one arm on the counter.

"I heard they found another body," the woman was saying, wringing her hands, "torn apart by daemons."

The tipster frowned. "It's gettin' worse around here... can't even get somewhere safe at sundown before you get jumped on. I'll have to put out a call to the hunters."

Cor frowned. This wasn't the first discussion he'd heard of increased daemon activity in the area. And, more worryingly, he'd heard multiple parties talking about the increase in traffic around the nearby imperial base.

This merited investigation.

Getting up, he left payment and tip next to his drained coffee cup and walked out of the diner. Infiltrating a base on his own wasn't the most appealing idea in the world, but he had a feeling he knew who to call for help... even if she was as much a young girl to him as Noctis was a boy.

Nevertheless, he dialled his phone, and waited patiently for the two rings it took Aria to answer. "Yeah?"

"You should be more polite when picking up, you know." He smiled to himself.

"Cor?" He wasn't given a chance to confirm her guess before she kept going. "Didn't expect to hear from you so soon. What's up?"

"I've come across something unusual out at Taelpar. Could you and Caedus meet me out here?"

A moment of silence, probably so she could confer with her mentor. Then, "Sure, we're on our way."

—

A few hours later, Cor was sitting on the bench outside the Crow's Nest when he heard the distinct 'kweh' call of a chocobo. Looking up, he watched Ivory and Chance trot across the road and stop not far from him for their riders to dismount. Caedus approached first. "You look worried," was his greeting.

Cor frowned, getting to his feet. "A little. Back at Caem, I spoke with Ignis... seems a commodore of the imperial army told them that Niflheim's been gathering daemon specimens for experimentation." He glanced to the north as he spoke, the direction of the fortress. "Daemon attacks have increased in these parts, and people are saying there're more airships coming and going from the base nearby."

"Sounds like they're up to no good. Big surprise," Aria interjected as she joined them. Cor turned to her and nodded.

"Surprise or not, it's something we should check out. Thought you two would be up for it."

Aria answered first. "Damn right we are."

For a moment, Cor was struck by how similar she was to her father, the man he'd known more than twelve years before. She had Liam's strong frame, his round face, his forward-set, honey-brown eyes. And now she wore the same smirk Cor had seen from Liam so many times: the eager, go-getter expression that meant he was ready for a throwdown.

"Alright then," he said, bringing himself back from his memories. "We'll move on it tonight."

—

Night fell, and found the three fighters slipping past the gate guards, moving with a transport truck that had just passed inspection. They slipped behind some nearby crates, and Caedus looked out over the base. "Lot more activity here than at the last one..."

Cor saw Aria tense. He'd heard about her ordeal, and for a moment he wondered if it was wise to bring her in on this. Then she nodded. "Yeah," she said, no trace of nerves in her voice, "it's like they're expecting trouble."

He dismissed his worry for the moment. "Question is, do they expect the trouble to come from outside, or inside the base?" He rested one hand on his katana's hilt. "That's what we're here to find out. Let's move."

They continued on, sticking to the shadows. Cor noted the increased number of Magitek troopers around, with human soldiers few and far between. It seemed odd, for such an active base to rely mostly on the mechanical warriors.

Aria was in the lead, and she put out an arm to stop the men. "There." She pointed to one of the larger buildings. "Looks like a bigger version of the place I was held. If there's a secret here, I guarantee you at least part of it is in there."

The door nearest them had a single human guard. Cor gripped the hilt of his sword. "I'll handle the guard."

Aria and Caedus didn't argue, and Cor slipped away from them, pressing himself into the shadows away from the spotlights. Closer... closer... he lunged, drawing his sword in a flash and cutting the man across the throat. As he fell, Cor caught him, twisting him so the spurts of blood went into the shadows as he dragged him away.

The other two joined him, and Caedus lifted a key card from the guard's pocket. He tossed it to Aria, who scanned them into the building before pocketing the card.

Strangely, the interior was just as dark as outside, only minimal, emergency-style red lighting providing barely enough illumination for them to see where they were going. "Not exactly what I pictured... but if you're gonna be housing daemons, I guess you can't be too into proper lighting," Aria mumbled.

"Certainly suits the mood," agreed Cor as they moved forward. The building was split by a single hallway, with a series of doors on either side. As they approached the first one, an ungodly yowl split the air, and the massive legs of an arachne slammed into the window that took up a quarter of the door's surface.

"Holy _shit_!" Aria leapt backwards, almost to the opposite wall, one hand snapping to her left sword. Cor jumped as well, hand going for his weapon, and Caedus did the same.

After the arachne struck the door a few more times, it retreated, and the three of them relaxed. "Gods..." hissed Caedus, releasing his katana finger by finger. "How insane _are_ they to keep these things here..."

"I think that question answers itself, boss." Aria grimaced, and Cor found himself agreeing with her. He hadn't realized the empire had gone so mad as to house daemons in the centre of their fortresses. What did that say about what was happening back in Gralea, in the seat of the empire's power?

They passed cell after cell. Hobgoblins, alberichs, a mindflayer, a lich... some lunged at the doors of the prisons, some just stared silently at the passersby. Cor couldn't decide which response was more unnerving.

As they neared the door on the other end of the building, it creaked open. The three of them froze for but a moment before splitting: Aria and Caedus on one side of the door, Cor on the other.

The man that stepped in didn't notice them, facing forward as he led two Magitek troopers inside. He was holding a clipboard. "Open cell C-4. That subject's being prepared."

The door closed. Cor met Caedus' eyes, then Aria's. An agreement was made.

Aria launched herself first, her swords clearing their sheaths before being brought down on one trooper's head, cutting it like a metal melon. Caedus lunged right after her, his katana decapitating the second trooper as Cor moved. He grabbed the scientist by the collar and slammed him, face-first, into the wall.

The man cried out in pain as Cor twisted his arm behind him. "Don't struggle," he growled.

"Wh-who the hell are you?!"

"Not exactly in a position to ask questions, are you?" Aria's question was a sneer. She'd put away one sword, but still held the other poised to strike if she had to.

"You're Lucian, aren't you?! I don't know anything! I'm just in charge of the subjects!" The scientist squirmed, but Cor tightened his grip.

"Subjects, huh?" Now Caedus joined the conversation, on the man's other side. "You're keepin' daemons here like they're goddamn circus animals."

"They're just test subjects," spat their captive, still squirming against Cor's hold. "Tools for the uprising of Niflheim! You Lucians don't know what you're in for..."

"His other hand!" Caedus barked suddenly. Cor looked down, but it was too late. A remote clattered to the floor, blinking red. An alarm blared.

And every door in the hallway slid open.

The scientist thrashed, and Cor caught an elbow in his stomach. He staggered back, and Aria lunged, her sword taking the man in the back of the neck. But that didn't end their problems. The daemons were loose, and the lich's magic struck Cor in the back before he could recover. He stumbled, dropped to one knee as a hobgoblin burst out of its prison.

Caedus jumped to his defense, katana whirling and removing the goblin's arm. Cor got back up, drawing his own katana to slash at the lich, driving it away from them.

Aria's other sword was out, and she cut through several alberichs before jabbing one sword at the nearest door. "Run! Outside, come on!"

Cor didn't argue. He ducked the arachne's flailing legs as he dashed for the door, Caedus right behind him. Aria managed to scan the keycard and kicked the door open in time for all three of them to lunge clear.

The daemons lunged after them, but then drew back, driven away by the powerful lights of the outside. But the alarms were still blaring. Cor glared around. "They'll be here to purge the daemons any second. We have to move!"

So they bolted, getting behind the nearest cover and heading for the exit. The troopers were rushing for the daemon building, so no one took notice when the three of them slipped out the same way they came in.

It wasn't until they were well away, nearly halfway back to Taelpar, before Cor stopped to look back. "That might put a halt to the research in this area for a while..."

"But not everywhere," Aria said, rubbing her arm where one daemon claw or another had gotten lucky. "And if that nutcase thinks the daemons are some kind of tool for victory...'

"Then Lucis could be in serious trouble," Caedus finished.

Aria nodded. "And I thought they were crazy before."

—

The three of them rested in Taelpar's caravan. Come morning, Cor found Aria sitting at the patio table outside the little trailer, phone in her lap. "How's your arm?" he asked as greeting.

She shrugged. "Fine after a quick potion. What about your back?"

"The same." He sat down next to her. "You know, Aria... you remind me a lot of your father."

Her eyes flicked up to him from her phone. "... Really?" There was an undeniable curiosity in her voice.

He nodded, gaze sliding off toward the morning horizon. "Liam was always ready for a fight... When you were born, I asked him if he wanted to retire, to raise you. He said no. That he wouldn't be a good father if he taught you to shirk your responsibilities." Sighing, he closed his eyes. "And then he was killed while performing those responsibilities."

He heard her sigh to match him. "Yeah... I didn't really get it when I was a kid, but I'm starting to. With Ignis and the guys... duty's a big deal. Even as a hunter, I have a duty." She paused, and he looked at her, the determined set of her face. "But we all have a duty to stop Niflheim. They can't be allowed to do shit like we saw last night unchecked."

"On that we can agree." He got to his feet, and smiled at her. "And with how you wield your father's swords, I expect you'll do well in fulfilling that duty."

She smiled back at him. "Thanks, Cor."

#

A nice comfy chapter, not much threat. Gotta make up for the shitshow I'm about to head into...


	31. Within the Storm

**Well, you guys asked for it! I decided to cut out the third filler chapter I had planned, so we get to the doozy earlier than I said we would. Content warning for injury this chapter (of course).**

#

He hadn't expected to be this nervous.

Ignis stood at the docks, helping to direct the citizens of Altissia towards appropriate lines for the evacuation. Every boat in the city harbour had been pulled into the effort to get people out of the way of Leviathan's wrath, and as soon as the Oracle's address had finished, the evacuation had begun.

When he'd called Aria the day before, he'd confessed his fears to her. Fears that Leviathan would fight Noctis to gauge his worth, as Titan had, except this time he and the others wouldn't be there to help their prince. That he wouldn't be there to make sure Noctis would be okay.

She'd told him to have some confidence in his friend, and to spare some of that worry for himself.

Still, his mind was on Noctis even as he herded a family of five towards the boat with room for them.

Then he heard Gladiolus' voice. "Iggy! There's MTs in the city. We gotta make sure they don't get here!"

Turning, he found Gladiolus and Prompto waving him towards them, and handed off his duty to one of the Altissian guard force nearby before running to them. "The evacuation?" was his first question.

"They'll signal us with the flares, so we know when we can go to Noct," Gladiolus assured even as he summoned his greatsword.

Ignis summoned his daggers. "Then let's get to it."

The three friends ran down Altissia's streets together, taking down troopers as they went. Most of the airships were headed for the altar, and as Ignis watched, a massive, serpentine form exploded from the waters, visible over every building.

He threw a dagger into the head of the last trooper and pulled out his phone. Prompto and Gladiolus did the same, as they engaged a conference call with Noctis as soon as he picked up.

"Noct, the Hydraean has awoken," was the first thing Ignis said.

"The civilians?" came the prince's response, and Gladiolus turned to watch a flare, trailing yellow smoke, rise from where they'd came. The signal for the last of the ships being loaded.

"Almost there," the Shield reported into his phone. "We'll join you when we're done."

Ignis returned his focus to the airships, the ones closing in on the goddess of the seas. "The empire has the Hydraean surrounded. Hurry, Noct!"

Gladiolus grimaced. "Then the rite's already begun?"

"Most likely," Noctis replied.

Prompto, somehow, was grinning. "Time to lend the Hydraean a hand!"

As the call was suspended, Ignis spotted something blazing through the air towards them: a small imperial airbike. "Gladiolus, above us!"

The airbike swung around to make a pass, but its Magitek trooper rider found itself on the business end of Gladiolus' swinging sword. The airbike careened off-course, hitting the ground and skidding several dozen feet.

Another squad was approaching. Ignis knew a chance when he saw it. "Prompto, take that thing and get to Noct! Help him reach Leviathan!"

"What!?" yelped the gunman as he fired several rounds into the nearest MT's head. "What about you!?"

"We'll manage!" barked Gladiolus, cutting a trooper's torso clean off with one swing. "Get going!"

Prompto hesitated a moment longer, but then he nodded. "Right. You guys better not die!" And he ran to the airbike, leaping on and kicking it to life. Ignis was a bit impressed he didn't crash it directly into a building, instead rocketing off towards where they knew Noctis to be.

He shifted so he was back-to-back with Gladiolus, pulling out his phone again. "Noct! Prompto is headed your way."

"But what about you guys?" Predictable response.

"We'll wait below. There's only room for two."

Prompto's voice, then. "Noct, _jump_!"

Ignis hung up. It was up to Prompto now. He lunged away from Gladiolus' protection, stabbing both daggers into an MT's neck. Turning toward the harbour, he watched a trail of black smoke rise into the air. The evacuation was complete. "Gladio, we should splt up!"

The Shield glanced at him even as he knocked several troopers flying. "Why!?"

"The more troops we can draw away from the altar, the better. Noct's going to have his hands full just with the Hydraean."

It only took a second for Gladiolus to nod, and Ignis smiled. As another squad approached, he turned and ran down a side-street, listening to the metallic clank of boots behind him as well as Gladiolus' bellow as the battle continued.

 _We'll do what we can. Good luck, Noct_ , he promised in his mind as he moved. When the narrow alley opened to a little plaza, he whirled around, calling his daggers once again as he attacked the trooper in the lead. It went down with sparks flying from two gaping holes in its chest plate.

The next one lunged, and he banished his daggers in favour of his lance, stabbing it through the chest and driving it to the ground. Using his lance like a pole-vault, he launched off and landed on the next trooper, stabbing a newly-summoned dagger into its neck.

Another two were approaching him, and he leapt off his last target to meet them head-on. A rifleman went down before it could bring its weapon to bear, and Ignis whirled to the next one, cut through its chest, and then its neck. It stayed standing, body jerking as sparks began to fly.

That was when he realized it was a shock trooper. Shit!

Backpedaling as fast as he could, he saw a stone fountain a few feet to his right. He dived for it just as the shock trooper exploded. Too slow. Fire and metal hit him full in the left side of his face. His glasses shattered, and pain erupted across his eyes.

He screamed, his world reduced to white-hot agony. Crashing onto his back, he clawed at his face, trying futilely to relieve the pain there as he writhed.

Couldn't see. Had to get up! He peeled his hands away from his burning face, forced his eyes open despite the agony. The world was a swimming mess of vague shapes. His left eye couldn't see a damn thing, but his right could make out something. Airships. The empire was starting to retreat.

One airship wasn't moving. His vision was getting worse, but he squinted... it was the chancellor's ship.

Why?

The ship became a blur, then a shadow. And then Ignis' world went black.


	32. After

**I realize the irony of publishing these chapters on Iggy's birthday. Like... happy birthday, I give you blindness. Oopsies, bad timing on my part.**

#

Ignis barely realized it when he went from dream to waking, so sluggish was the transition. He could feel that he was lying on a bed, covers tucked up to his chin. Then he tried to open his eyes, and pain lanced anew through his face. A hiss escaped him, one hand rising to his face but stopping just shy of touching. Instead, he focused on sensation: trying to open his left eye just hurt, though even when he managed to lift the lid slightly there was nothing to be seen from it.

His right he could open, despite the sting, but it was only marginally better than the pitch blackness of his left. He could perceive that the room he was in was dark, and not much else. He couldn't even distinguish the exact shape of his own hand, barely three inches from his face.

Then someone turned the light on, and pain shot clean through to the back of his head. He snapped his eyes shut, letting out a yelp before he could stop himself.

"Ignis? Oh, man, I'm sorry!" The frantic voice was unmistakably Prompto, and the light switched off just as soon as it had turned on. "Are you okay?" His voice was a bit closer now.

Ignis forced himself to sit up, to ignore how disorienting it was to do so without being able to see. "Yes, I'm all right... my eyes are just... sensitive, right now..."

He felt Prompto's hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, I get it... I mean... you gave us a scare. You were a mess when we found you..."

Ignis lifted his hand, touching the area around his eyes. A great swath of skin around his left eye was too painful to touch, explained why that one was worse off. His mind was still working to catch up with what was around him... they'd found him? He turned his head toward Prompto's voice. "What about the rite? What about Noct?"

A long silence, Prompto's hand vanishing from his shoulder. Gods, Ignis wished he could see the man's face, at least have that indicator of what he was thinking. Finally, Prompto spoke, "The rite's done... it's night now... you've been out for hours. Noct's... well, he's okay, we think. The docs say he just needs to sleep..."

Something was wrong. There was too much heaviness in his words. Ignis felt himself tense. "Prompto, what happened? Did something go wrong?"

A noise that tried to be a laugh but was too close to a sob for Ignis to like it. "You mean besides your face?" And there was no humour in the question, Prompto's voice now thick with emotion as he continued, "Lady Lunafreya... I mean... I didn't see it... but... she... she's dead, Iggy. She's gone."

Oh, no.

Ignis pressed his hand to the right side of his face, just to hold his aching head. He wished he could similarly sooth his aching heart. Noctis was going to be heartbroken.

Prompto's hand returned to his shoulder. "They're looking for her body... we found Noct far away from the altar, but the rest of it ended up in the water..."

"I understand," Ignis managed to whisper, just to make Prompto stop talking.

Heavy silence settled between them, weighing on Ignis like a physical burden. He'd never felt like this... like a failure. He'd failed Noctis by not getting there in time to prevent that which would hurt him. He'd failed King Regis, betraying the promise he'd made to stay by the prince's side. He'd failed himself, the silent vow he'd made never to let something like this befall the young man who was his friend and charge.

A soft chime and the sound of vibration interrupted his self-berating. It was coming from somewhere near the head of the bed, and he turned to the noise.

Prompto explained before he could ask, "Aria's been texting you. Your phone's locked, so I couldn't really..." A pause, then, "do you want me to read her messages to you?"

... Right. If he couldn't see his own hand, words on a phone screen would be impossible. "No," he said eventually. "Could you unlock it for me? The passcode is 0207."

A shuffling, Prompto's hand once again disappearing from his shoulder. "Okay, got it... want me to call her for you? I'll leave the room."

Did he?

"... Please."

He wanted to hear her voice, if nothing else.

Another pause, and then he felt Prompto's hand on his, pressing the phone into it. "It's ringing. Just call if you need anything. I won't be far."

"Thank you, Prompto." It was an unusual feeling, being looked after. Ignis didn't like it.

He lifted the phone to his ear. It was still ringing, but barely got halfway through before she picked up. "Ignis?" There was undeniable tension in her voice, but he still smiled to hear it.

"Yes, it's me."

"It's about damn time! I thought you'd gone and died on me!"

He grimaced. Of course she'd heard of the devastation wrought in Altissia. Doubtless the empire had spun it to their own ends, but he knew she wouldn't have bought their stories. "I'm sorry. Things got out of hand with the rite." That was putting it lightly.

Apparently his voice gave him away, because her next words were much softer. "Are you okay?"

That brought him pause, the fingers of his free hand brushing under the wound to his left eye. It was still early, perhaps the wounds, and his eyesight, would mend over time. "I'll be fine," was what he eventually said. "Just a bit roughed up."

If he told her, she'd just worry. And there was nothing she could do to help anyway.

"... Okay." She didn't sound convinced, but it seemed like she was willing to let it slide. "What about everyone else?"

"We got the civilians out in time, so no innocents were hurt. The others... Noct's unconscious, but all right. Prompto and Gladio got the best of it." He hesitated, but chose to continue. "Lady Lunafreya... didn't make it."

"... Shit. I was hoping the news was lying again. I'm sorry, Ignis."

"As am I." He let silence be for a long moment before deciding a change in subject was in order. "How are things there?"

"Messy as ever. We found one of the empire's daemon research bases a few nights ago. Seems like they're stepping it up around here, so all the hunters are on alert for stories of increased daemon activity around imperial strongholds." A sigh, and then she continued. "And don't even get me started on if you guys are going anywhere near Gralea."

He frowned to himself. He hadn't even considered the future... especially given his injury. What if he still couldn't see when the time came to head for the imperial capital? What good would he be in reclaiming the crystal if he couldn't even defend himself?

And if he didn't get his sight back... what would Aria think?

"Ignis?" Her voice called him back to reality.

"Sorry."

"It's okay. Look, you should get some rest. We'll talk later."

"Very well. Take care, Aria."

"You too."

She hung up, and he let the phone drop into his lap, feeling better and worse all at once. Better, because Aria always made him feel better and even just hearing her voice was a relief. But worse, because he'd lied to her and he was afraid of what would happen if she found out. When she found out.

If his sight didn't recover. When it didn't. What if it didn't? What would he do? He couldn't leave Noctis and the others... he just couldn't. And Aria... things were getting so much worse, so quickly. Would he see her again? Would he be _able_ to see her?

The thought made his heart twist. He bowed his head, fingers clenching into his hair. He felt something slip from his right eye, down his cheek... a tear. He was crying. Or his right eye was, at least. It had been so long since he'd cried... but there was no one here. He doubted Prompto had stayed close enough to hear his conversation, let alone the little sobs that now shook his body.

And so Ignis let himself cry. He cried for Lunafreya. He cried for Noctis. He cried for himself. And he cried for Aria, for the face he cherished that he feared he'd never be able to see again.


	33. Distracted

**Well now that I've given all of you the sads... just remember, you asked for it! Gonna be a short one today...**

#

Aria ran her left sword through the last sabertusk's heart, ripping it free and swearing under her breath once the beast was dead. One of its fellows had nicked her side with a tusk, and the wound stung something fierce. Not to mention her shirt was ruined, and it had been a favourite.

Caedus approached her as she was using a potion on the wound. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She didn't look up at him when she grumbled her answer, but she knew he wasn't buying it.

"You've been awfully spaced out lately." Caedus frowned as he sheathed his katana, and Aria delayed her answer by blowing her chocobo whistle.

When Chance and Ivory showed up, Aria could feel Caedus' eyes on her, and knew he wasn't going to mount until she gave him an answer. "I'm just worried, y'know? About Ignis... and the guys."

Caedus swung into the saddle, frowning at Aria as she did the same. "Worrying won't get us anywhere. You said the prince was awake, didn't you? And the others are okay."

"For now, maybe," she muttered, not spurring Ivory to motion just yet. "But it's not just that. Ignis and I used to text all the time, but now he just calls me. And when I ask why, he just says it's what he wants for now." One hand waved about a bit to emphasize her point. She was ranting, and she knew it, but damn it, it had been more than a week since the Leviathan rite, and this had been _bothering_ her.

Her teacher, for his part, looked amused, which did nothing to ease her agitation. "You're reading too much into it. People like to hear a voice when they're far away from someone they care about. Texting's probably just not good enough right now." He started Chance off at a walk, giving Aria no choice but to follow on Ivory.

"Yeah, maybe," she admitted, glaring at nothing. It still didn't sit well with her. It was like Ignis was hiding something from her... what it could be, she had no idea, but it hurt to think there was something he didn't trust her to know.

Then Caedus' words actually sank in, and she moved Ivory to Chance's side to properly side-eye her mentor. "Wait, what's this 'care about' stuff? Thought you didn't approve of me and Ignis." She smirked at him.

He glared in turn. "Even if I don't, I'm not blind. I can see that he cares about you." He faced forward again, shaking his head. "Even if neither of you two will let it come outta your damn mouths." And he spurred Chance into a run. 

"Hey!" Aria spurred Ivory to follow, though couldn't quite catch up. "I don't gotta say shit if it's obvious to a thickhead like _you_!"

It didn't occur to her until later that perhaps Caedus was just trying to distract her.


	34. What the Dark Brings

**Okay so the game isn't exactly clear-cut on the timeline between Altissia and Gralea beyond 'a few weeks' between Leviathan and them being on the train, so vague timeline of vagueness is incoming. That said, I plan on expanding on just what the heck goes on in Lucis leading up to the ten years of darkness, so here we go!**

#

Without the Oracle, the world seemed a little darker. And that wasn't a metaphor. In the few weeks since the disaster in Altissia, Aria had witnessed the evidence of the world's change. The sun was visible for shorter and shorter periods, entire hours shaved off the daylight time. They'd had to change their travel patterns to avoid daemon activity.

Now she sat in her camp chair, watching the sun rise two hours later than it had the day Ignis had left for Accordo. Caedus was finishing stowing the tent in his saddle bags, but then he came to her side. "This is gonna get worse before it gets better," he said, frowning at the horizon.

"Glad I'm not the only one thinking we're in trouble," she answered as she got to her feet and folded her chair for stowing into Ivory's saddle bags. "How long do you think we have today?"

"Who knows." He shrugged before swinging into Chance's saddle. "We should head for the next haven, sweep as we go. Dave called... says there's probably some tags in the area. Hunter was seeing some folks to Galdin and got caught unprepared at sundown. Died giving the people time to get to safety."

A grimace twisted her face as she ran her fingers through the feathers of Ivory's neck. "Great... we're gonna be dropping like flies if we don't make a plan for this shit." Hopping into the saddle, she was about to spur Ivory to motion when her phone rang. Both she and Caedus frowned, but she picked it up anyway. "Hello?"

"It's Cor," was the greeting, and his tone did nothing to alleviate her frown. "How soon can you two get to Taelpar?"

Man, he was wasting no time. "Maybe by nightfall, if we're lucky. Why? What's wrong?"

The marshal hissed out a sigh. "Remember that base we broke into? It's been shut up. People here saw a few airships ship out two days ago, and nothing since. The gates are closed. It's like the whole place is in lockdown."

Oh, crap. "If there's something there the empire doesn't want us knowing about, it's either really good... or _really_ bad." There was no in between here.

"Exactly, and I plan to find out which." A moment's pause, then, "but after what we found last time, I'd rather have back up."

"We'll be there as soon as we can." She hung up and pocketed her phone, loathe to call off the search for the tags, but this was important. She turned to Caedus. "We'll have to come back for the tags."

"What happened?" His eyes were narrow. Of course he knew anything important enough to distract from their secondary duty as hunters had to be bad.

"That base we ran into the daemons in? Cor says it's locked down now. The empire's abandoned it."

She didn't have to say more. Caedus took Chance's reins. "Let's go."

—

Her original estimate didn't end up too far off. By the time they reached the Taelpar rest area, the sun was low on the horizon. Unnatural and unnerving for the time of year it was.

They found Cor near the chocobo rental post, with his own deep-orange bird. He mounted as soon as they approached. "Can't really waste time right now," was his explanation, his eyes on the west horizon. "I've scouted the place. There's a small door within the main gates we could probably break into."

"With what we found last time, we need to be careful," Caedus said, frowning. "If the daemons are loose in there..."

Cor nodded, and nothing more needed to be said. The three of them spurred their mounts for the base.

They reached it just as dusk had truly begun, the orange-red hue of the light cast over the place only making it more eerie. Vehicles were left abanoned outside the gates. Several MTs were lying unresponsive around them. The three chocobos kweh'd their distress, all stopping and refusing to go within ten feet of the non-functional robots.

Aria swung down from Ivory's back, stroking his feathers. She looked at Cor and Caedus. The chocobos sensed something they couldn't, and Aria wasn't sure she wanted to know what that was.

But Caedus started forward, and she followed with Cor behind. Her eyes skipped from one MT to the next, but the robots made no movement whatsoever as they passed. Their armour seemed piecemeal, like bits of it had been knocked away by weapons. One had bullet holes in it. "The hell happened here..."

Cor shh'd her as they reached the door, a heavy thing with a padlock sealing it, meant for entrances that didn't require the gates to be open all the way. The marshal and her teacher stepped aside, and Aria drew one sword. She looked at each of the men in turn, and then brought the pommel of her sword down on the lock. The sound was like a gunshot in the silence. She did it again, and agaiin, and a fourth time before the lock finally broke.

The empire had obviously left in a hurry, because the door swung open with ease once the padlock was gone. There was nothing in the immediate area, but no lights were on, the high walls blocking the sunset's light. Aria switched the flashlight attached to her vest on, and behind her Cor and Caedus did the same.

Their lights swept over signs of battle. More MTs were scattered here and there, all heavily damaged. As the three of them advanced, fanning out to keep their eyes in every direction, Aria felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. Even though the Magitek generator was disabled, there was still a charge in the air.

"It's like the MTs went rogue..." Caedus murmured as he approached a trooper lying on the ground.

Aria was about to reply when the trooper twitched. Then it lunged up, seizing Caedus' legs and driving him to the ground. It practically clawed up to his chest, too fast for a reaction. Sparks were blasting from its body, along with the black blood of daemons.

" _Caedus_!" Aria lunged, swinging her swords as Caedus struggled. One sword caught the trooper in the face, driving it back. Its fingers hooked into her mentor like claws, tearing flesh and fabric even as Cor lent his sword to the attack.

By the time they tore the trooper off Caedus, it had stopped moving once again. Which did nothing to ease Aria's jack-hammering heart. She stared at the blood on her teacher's chest, a combination of his own and the already-evaporating daemon blood. "What the _fuck_..." Shaking her head, she knelt beside him. "Are you okay?"

"Y-... yeah... I'm fine." She'd never heard him stutter before, and she pulled a potion from her vest to administer before helping him up. He was staring at the remains of the trooper. "What the hell _was_ that?"

"A daemon." Cor's voice was barely steadier than either of theirs. "The Magitek troopers are daemons."

Aria's head snapped around to stare at him. "But... _how_? And _why_? Why the hell would the empire—woud _anyone_ —create soldiers from daemons?"

"Think about it," he replied, turning fully to her, "daemons don't reproduce. They have to make more of themselves somehow. Where else do the daemons who have human forms come from?"

"I don't like where you're going with this." Caedus grimaced, looked out over the base. "So you're saying... what, that this place got abandoned because the MTs got too much daemon in them and went rogue?"

"Do you have a better explanation?"

Aria's focus was no longer on the two men, but on the area around them. Other MTs were starting to twitch to life as the last vestiges of sunlight disappeared from the base. And pools of blue-black energy were starting to form, ready to give rise to daemons. "Uh... maybe we could talk about this somewhere else?"

Cor and Caedus turned. And then something heavy stomped the ground behind them.

When they spun to face it, an iron giant was standing between them and out.

"Too late for that, I'm afraid," said Cor.

#

Cliffhanger because I don't have time to make this a super long chapter. Sorry sorry please forgive me!


	35. What the Dark Hunts

**Holy guacamole. A hundred reviews? All for MEEEE? You guys are the best T.T Seriously though, I wouldn't be able to keep up this fic, let alone my crazy update schedule, without you guys. So much love!**

#

There was something to be said for the empire's efficiency in creating madness. And that 'something' consisted almost entirely of swear words.

The three of them had dived out of the way of the giant's massive sword, and things had only gotten crazier from there. Caedus and Aria were facing off against the beast, its low speed the only thing keeping them alive as they alternated dashing in and slashing its legs. It hadn't staggered yet, and Cor had his own hands full with the dozens of daemons and MTs that were trying to gore them.

Aria's swords bit into the iron giant's leg, and it took one step back, but then she was diving aside again as its sword came down on where she'd been standing a few seconds earlier. Caedus dashed in and slashed the other leg, only to leap away from a hobgoblin a second later as the creature broke past Cor's overwhelmed defenses.

"Look out!" the marshal cried, rushing to engage the goblin as the giant made a great sweep with its sword that would have taken Caedus' head off if not for the warning. The hunter dropped to a crouch, leaping under the giant's own defenses to strike at its stomach.

Aria jumped back, turning from the giant to deal with an arachne that was dead-set on her life. The creature knocked her onto her back and she rolled, lashing out with both swords to cut several of the spider-thing's legs out from under it before rolling away.

As she came to her feet, one of the arachne's forelegs sparked with electricity and struck out. Aria screamed as the shock ran through her, driving her to her knees as her whole body could do nothing but twitch. She was defenseless!

" _No_!" Caedus all but appeared beside her, his katana carving a great gash through the arachne's chest. There was blood dripping from a wound near his left shoulderblade, but he still swung his sword again to decapitate the beast. "Aria, get up!"

Her muscles were still spasming, slowing her down, but she forced herself up. A look over her shoulder showed Cor now distracting the giant, but they couldn't keep this up. They'd be overwhelmed.

An axe came within an inch of her face, and she barely staggered back to avoid a fatal blow from the next strike, which instead swung down and left a gash in her thigh. Forcing her muscles to work, she slashed, removing the robot's weapon arm with one sword and then its head with the other.

"We have to run! Trap them inside!" Cor's words were a command, though his voice was distorted by pain, blood running down one side of his face from an injury somewhere in his hairline.

"What about the giant?! It's blocking the door!" Caedus barked back as he parted from Aria a bit so they could deal with two different MTs closing in on them.

Aria saw a shock trooper staggering towards them. "Get behind something!"

Caedus and Cor didn't argue, cutting their way through daemons and MTs alike to duck behind one of the overturned vehicles nearby.

Aria lunged for the shock trooper, bringing both swords down through either side of its chest. It jerked back, body sparking, and she sheathed her swords in order to grab it. Pivoting on her uninjured leg, she hurled the thing towards the iron giant and then bolted, sliding to make it underneath another vehicle just as the trooper detonated.

The explosion killed several of the smaller daemons, and the giant staggered to one side, dropped to its knees. The door was clear.

"Run!" Cor shouted, but it was hardly needed. All three of them dashed for the exit, Aria a bit slower as she dragged herself out from under the truck.

They made it out just as the giant was getting up, and Aria pulled the door shut behind them. As she backed away, it bulged outward, struck by incredible force. A bellow reached their ears, the daemons raging at losing their prey.

"We're lucky they're not that bright," Aria gasped, leaning over to catch her breath.

"Not lucky enough." Caedus pressed his hand to the gash in his shoulder. "Gotta get back to Taelpar. We're not safe yet."

The other two nodded, calling their chocobos and forcing themselves into the saddle. The three birds needed little encouragement to set off at a sprint, fleeing the overrun base as fast as they could move.

—

No one spoke as they treated their wounds, as they entered the all-hours diner for a dinner that the tipster didn't question.

Finally, sitting at the table after finishing their food, Cor stared out at the still-dark sky. "It could be happening everywhere the empire has daemons."

"It could be happening everywhere, period," Caedus answered, his face grim. "More darkness means more daemons, and if they really spread by infecting other creatures..."

"Then we're in eight different kinds of shit," Aria finished, pressing her face into her hand. She froze midway through rubbing her forehead, though, looked up. "Ignis and the guys are heading for Gralea."

Cor's eyes widened for a second before his face returned to a determined set. "If it's this bad here... they have to be warned."

Aria pulled out her phone without needing further prompting, beginning to text even as the two men continued to talk.

Caedus sighed. "I'll give Dave a call when the sun rises. All the hunters need to know about this."

Cor nodded. "I'll alert every member of the Crownsguard that's not dead. If the nights keep getting longer, we need to start making a plan to keep people safe."

Even with her focus on her phone, Aria was listening. She almost laughed.

 _Keep people safe. Right, where's gonna be safe when the whole world gets overrun by daemons?_ she wondered.

#

Don't worry, you'll find out what Aria texted next chapter.


	36. Worry About Yourself

**And we're back with the boys! The sad, sad, sad boys... ho dear. Hecking with the timeline a lil bit again for my own convenience.**

#

Ignis didn't need his sight to know the twisted expressions Noctis and Gladiolus were making as they practically screamed at each other. His jaw tensed, and it took effort not to say anything as Noctis stormed off in one direction and Gladiolus stomped off in the other.

He could hear Prompto's shakey breathing, nearly feel the distress radiating from the man. "Ignis, should we...?"

"Let them be for now. They need to cool off." He listened as Prompto dropped into the seat across from him. He was upset. Ignis didn't blame him. The last few weeks had been... harrowing, to say the least. Gladiolus and Noctis' arguing seemed to be the straw that was breaking Prompto's back, and it hurt to lose his usually cheerful attitude.

But then, there wasn't much to be cheerful about right now.

"I don't like it either, Prompto," he said at length, when the silence became too heavy to endure. "But there's nothing we can do about them when they're in this state."

"And what about the state _you're_ in, Iggy?" Prompto shot back, and Ignis leaned away from him, the question catching him off guard. Prompto plowed on, "I mean... you really want to go into the tomb at Cartanica? You can't _see_..."

It wasn't an accusation, but he flinched nonetheless. His lips drew into a thin line, but he kept his voice level. "I'm aware of that, but I won't know if I can fight unless I try. I'll do my best not to be a burden."

A soft gasp. "Ignis, that's not what I—"

The hasty almost-apology was cut off when Ignis' phone chimed with a text. Reflexively, he fished it out and looked down... and then he remembered. He held it out to Prompto. "Who is it?"

A gentle hand took the phone from him. A pause, inevitably Prompto unlocking the phone with the passcode, before the blonde spoke, "It's Aria," he answered, confusion colouring his voice, "Why would she text you? Didn't you tell her what happened?"

He winced again. "... What does the message say?"

"... Ignis..."

"Prompto, please." He didn't want to talk about that. Didn't want to consider the ramifications of his lies.

There were a long few seconds, but eventually he heard the sigh of Prompto giving in. When next he spoke, it was in the careful tones of reading aloud, "Ignis, don't know where you guys are, but if you're on your way to Gralea, watch your back. The MTs and the daemons have started to get insane around the imperial fortresses. We think it's because of those experiments the commodore told you about it. If it's this bad here, it's gonna be worse where you're headed. Be careful."

Ignis frowned. 'This bad'? What had happened? He turned to where Prompto's voice originated. "It doesn't say anything else?"

"No, that's all..." Prompto's words were now tinged with worry. "What do you think she means by the MTs and the daemons getting insane?"

"Nothing good, that's for certain." Holding out his hand, Ignis took the phone offered by Prompto and returned it to his pocket. "We'll have to be cautious, but for now, Cartanica takes priority."

"... Right." The tone of his voice made it clear that Prompto didn't agree, but blessedly he didn't argue.

The train's brakes screeched as their speed began to drop. Ignis lifted his eyes to where he could sense light entering the windows of the train. Sunrise at last. "We've arrived. Best find the others so we can get going."

He didn't object to Prompto's guiding hand on his elbow as they maneuvered toward the train platform. Physical contact was the least he owed the man for everything that was going on.


	37. Burden

**So, funny story. This was SUPPOSED to be chapter 33, but I totally forgot I had it planned and thus skipped right to "Distracted." My bad. So you guys get a twofer tonight! Keep in mind this is an event that takes place BETWEEN chapters 32 and 33, though the dialogue matching the game should make that obvious.**

#

"Umbra left that for you..." Ignis couldn't see Noctis, couldn't see the notebook, but he knew the prince's eyes would go to it as soon as he pointed it out. So he took his leave, stepping slowly so as not to run himself into the wall.

He opened the door quietly, but then he heard sound behind him. The frantic flipping of pages... and sobbing. It stopped him in his tracks. Did Noctis know he was still in the room? Could still hear him?

The prince's voice reached him, then, choked and constantly interrupted by sobs. "I'm sorry... I'm _sorry_... I'm sorry..."

Ignis' jaw clenched, his throat closed up, and he felt his right eye sting with tears again. He'd known what would happen. He'd known the news would break his prince's heart... and he'd just walked away? He was willing to fail him not only as a Crownsguard, but as a friend?

No.

He closed the door and turned around. Noctis was still crying, still whispering. "I'm sorry, Luna... I'm sorry..."

"Noct."

The apologies cut off in a gasp. He could still hear Noctis' shakey breathing, interrupted by little gasps that the prince was now obviously trying to contain. "I-Ignis... I thought you..." A sniffle. Ignis could picture Noctis rubbing his eyes, trying to get his composure back. "I thought you'd left..."

He almost had. Now he stepped carefully to the bedside, wanting to reach for Noctis' shoulder but unsure of exactly where he was. The light in the room hurt his still-freshly injured right eye too much to look.

"I will leave only if you want me to," he promised, one hand reaching out, offering. "... _I'm_ sorry, Noct. I wasn't there for her. Or for you." He was too busy being an idiot and getting blinded. At least dying in the line of duty was considered an honour... but all he'd managed to do was make himself a liability. A burden on his prince...

His thoughts were derailed when Noctis grabbed his hand. "Ignis... " A shuffling of blankets, Noctis releasing his hand, and then Ignis almost fell over as a weight hit him full in the torso. He was held up only by the grace of Noctis' arms going around him in a tight hug. The heir's shoulders were shaking. He was crying again. "Don't say that... please... you're _hurt_... I was there... I was _there_... and I couldn't do anything..." The words were almost lost to sobs, and Ignis rested his arms over Noctis' shoulders. He'd probably moved to the edge of the bed to make the embrace possible.

He almost swore aloud, cursed the gods that had given this fate to the young man before him. Noctis would make a fine man, a fine ruler, in his own time... and yet here he was, thrown into tragedy and responsibility too early, and wounded for it.

"Don't blame yourself," was all he managed to say, his fingers squeezing Noctis' shoulder.

And then the only sound was Noctis sobbing, and Ignis held him until he quieted, wishing with all his heart that he could take away the burden that was slowly destroying his friend.


	38. Preparation

**And now back to your regularly scheduled timeline. We'll be spending a lot of this arc in Lucis, so hope you guys like a boatload of pretty-much-doomsday prep!**

#

Aria was seriously ready to reach through the phone and wring her friend's neck. "Cindy, all I'm saying is you should _consider_ going somewhere safer for a while. You're practically a stone's throw from Insomnia, and with what's been happening with the empire..."

"I ain't leavin' the garage, and that's that, Ari," sighed the woman on the other end, which was what she'd been throwing at Aria since the conversation started.

The hunter growled out a curse word or two. "Okay, Cin, fine, but will you at least beef up the daemon defenses around there? Get some floodlights in, look into a fence or something..."

"What'd you see to get you so spooked?" The worry in Cindy's voice was actually heartening. At least part of what Aria was saying was getting through. 

But she didn't want to explain about the base, about the sheer _number_ of daemon attacks reported recently. The number of tags she, Cor, and Caedus had side-tracked to pick up on their way from Taelpar to Meldacio. Instead, she took a deep breath. "You've noticed, haven't you? The nights are getting longer."

A few seconds of silence, and Aria let her eyes wander out the window of Hunter HQ, watch the sun beginning to set hours earlier than it should. Then Cindy spoke. "Yeah, ever since Lady Lunafreya..." Her inhale quivered. Apparently she didn't have it in her to say it.

"Exactly," Aria said simply, closing her eyes. "Just promise me you'll be careful, okay? The empire's been messing with daemons, and with these longer nights they may well have screwed us all."

"Alright, Ari. I promise. I'll talk to Paw-paw about beefin' up against daemons around here."

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later."

"Sure. You be careful."

"Always."

She hung up and leaned against the wall with a sigh. After pocketing her phone, she pushed off the wall and made her way down the hall, finding Caedus and Cor in the small back room of the little building. Hunters didn't need a large building for their HQ. It wasn't like many of them stayed in one place.

"Did you get a hold of her?" asked Caedus as soon as she was close enough.

"Yeah. Refuses to leave Hammerhead, but I at least got her to promise to look into getting better lights and such to keep the daemons at bay in case they start pouring out of Insomnia." It hurt to speak of her home like that. Like some daemon cesspool waiting to erupt onto the world.

Cor nodded. "Cid will see the logic in it. He won't stand any risk to his grandchild." A small smile became visible as he spoke, and Aria found herself smiling back.

"I really hope we're just being paranoid," she said, even as she looked out the window at the night and knew it wasn't true.

The door to the main room of HQ opened, and Dave poked his head out. "I think we got everybody that's comin'. Let's get this meeting started."

And the three of them entered the makeshift conference room. Every hunter who could be contacted had been gathered. Aria recognized a lot of faces, but just as many that she knew were not present, and never would be again.

The meeting had been called so they could discuss the devastating threat posed by the extended nights and the increased daemon activity. She didn't foresee a lot of progress, but she hoped they'd at least be able to form enough of a plan so that fewer hunters were losing their lives out there.

—

And her hopes were answered. Between all of them, they agreed on three things: hunters needed to work in teams of two at least, knowledge of the empire's involvement with daemons had to be spread, and they should try to move people from the furthest outposts towards the larger ones for safety's sake.

She left the room with Caedus and Cor, feeling slightly better about the state of things and watching her fellow hunters mill about, forming teams or partnerships. Cor stood a little apart from her and Caedus, but turned to them. "I think I'll stick with the two of you for a while."

Caedus raised a brow. "Not going it alone again?"

Cor looked out at the night sky and frowned. "Not just yet. I want your help in getting Iris and Talcott back to Lestallum. Caem just isn't safe enough for them..."

Explained his motivation. Aria nodded. "Of course... but I get the feeling there's not gonna be many safe places left, pretty soon."

#

Not much happenin' this chapter. Wore my muse out with the two from yesterday. Sorry all!


	39. Darkness and Trickery

**Just giving you guys a heads up, there may be a lag in chapters for the next two days, as I'll be out of town and may not have time to write. So don't panic, I promise I'll be back!**

#

It was better, and worse, than he'd expected. Cartanica had shown him that he still had a long way to go before he would be anywhere near his old skill, but at the same time, it had shown him that the loss of his sight had not destroyed his ability to strategize.

Nor his ability to investigate, though he had to ask Gladiolus to do the leg work. After excusing himself from Noctis' company, Ignis followed the sound of the Shield's footsteps until he was gently stopped and guided into a seat. "This my friend I was telling you about. Ignis, this is Doctor Regnus Altair."

"Pleasure to meet you, Doctor."

A light chuckle. "Please, just call me Reggie. That is, if I can call you Ignis."

Ignis smiled. "Of course."

"Excellent! Well then... Gladiolus here told me you wanted to hear my theories about the lengthening nights?" A faint shuffling, probably Regnus turning to face him more directly. He couldn't help feeling satisfied at his ability to guess at movement based on sound alone.

"If you wouldn't mind." He wondered if Gladiolus had explained his condition to Regnus already. Certainly the man didn't seem surprised to be speaking to a blind man.

The doctor's answer came readily. "Well, you already know that the empire's been going around causing a mess with the Six... but the nights were expanding long before that. Over the last few years, my research has shown a notable change. Nights getting shorter by minutes at a time, small changes that pile up into hours. Lately, of course, it's gotten bad enough that people have noticed."

Ignis frowned. Back in Lucis, Sania had said much the same thing. "So this phenomenon has existed for a while..."

"Makes sense," Gladiolus spoke from behind his left shoulder, "if the longer nights are connected to the daemons; they've been around for a while."

"My thoughts exactly," said Regnus, and Ignis could only guess that he'd nodded. "And at our current accelerated rate of change, it will only be a matter of weeks before we lose daylight entirely."

Ignis cringed. "That soon?"

"I'm afraid so, Ignis. Eos is in dire straits... and I don't think hard science is the answer."

It took the advisor a few seconds to figure out what the man meant. Then it hit him. "You put your faith in the prophecy, Reggie?"

"Can't see anything better to do. With any luck, the King of Light will be able to drive back this nightmare."

Ignis nodded. He could only hope so.

It didn't occur to him that the rest of the train had gone oddly silent. Not until an explosion rocked it, and drove it to a halt.

—

By the time he and Gladiolus had managed to get the train running again, making sure the conductor would be okay, Ignis had started to worry about Prompto and Noctis. Had they managed to deal with the airships in pursuit?

And then his phone rang. He didn't know why it filled him with concern. Nevertheless, the first words out of his mouth were "What's wrong?"

"Ignis, you've gotta stop this thing!" Noctis was frantic, that much was evident from his voice. "Prompto fell off the train. I pushed him—I mean, Ardyn made me!"

What? _Ardyn_? What the hell was Ardyn doing on the train? And what did he want with Prompto?

Ignis couldn't find words, but Noctis barreled on. "I don't know where he is, but we can't leave him!"

He had to be the level head right now. "Calm down, Noct. I'm worried for Prompto as well, but everyone on board would be in danger if we stopped for him. We'd be sitting ducks for daemons."

"So what do we do?"

"We can drop the passengers off at Tenebrae. We'll be there soon."

"What about Prompto!?"

What he had to say next almost made him sick, but Noctis had to understand. "Given the chancellor's involvement, it's probable he's no longer where we left him. Wherever he is, he may try to contact us. We must wait and hope for now." He sighed, sensed Gladiolus' eyes on him. No doubt the Shield was wondering why he was talking about Prompto the way he was. "Can you make your way here? Gladio's with me."

Noctis' voice had calmed somewhat, but he still sounded upset. "Are the two of you okay at least?"

"Yes."

"Okay, on my way." A moment's pause. "I'll be there as soon as I deal with some stowaways."

Ignis frowned, but hung up, fingers clenching around his phone.

"What happened? Is Prompto in trouble?" Gladiolus asked immediately.

"It seems the chancellor had a hand in our problems. Prompto fell off the train."

"What?!"

"I know..." Ignis sighed, pushing his phone into his pocket. "We have to focus on the safety of the other passengers for now. With any luck, Prompto is all right and will try to call us."

And if he didn't... all Ignis could do was pray they could find him.


	40. Barely

**Sorry for the delay, guys! Was bone-tired last night and passed out super early. Won't be much longer now before we hit the darkness. Cue dramatic music!**

#

Prompto was missing. That was the big bad news from what Ignis had told Aria when he'd called from Tenebrae. The other bad news was that Tenebrae had been attacked by daemons, leaving its capital in shambles once again.

The _good_ news was that Aranea Highwind, along with many of the soldiers who followed her, had defected from the empire and were now aiding the people of Tenebrae. Really, the good didn't do a lot to outweigh the bad.

She'd shared the news with Cor and Caedus, of course, as they made their way from Meldacio towards Caem, picking the path that would lead them past havens to spend the treacherous nights. None of them could fathom why the imperial chancellor would be helping Noctis, nor why he would be after Prompto.

Aria just hoped Ignis and the others could rescue their friend and get back from Gralea in one piece. She didn't know if the crystal was the answer to the daemon problem, but it seemed like their only hope now.

Iris, Talcott, Dustin, and Monica were waiting when they reached Caem at what had become mid-day now. They had three chocobos with full saddle bags with them. Monica smiled a greeting. "Good to see you all in one piece. We got ready as soon as you called, Marshal."

"I'm glad." Cor smiled at her and then turned to look up at the sun. "If we leave within the hour, we should make the first haven before nightfall."

Aria nodded. She knew he was eager to see them to safety. Dustin and Monica could take care of themselves, but Iris and Talcott were civilians. They'd have to be careful, for their sake.

She watched the others mount their chocobos with these worries buzzing in her mind, but she silenced them as soon as they were underway. Daemons were not the only thing they had to worry about on this journey.

—

Hours of riding was taking its toll on those unused to it. Talcott and Iris, who were sharing a roan chocobo, were starting to squirm in obvious discomfort. Even Dustin and Monica, used to the vehicles of Insomnia, seemed to be having a harder time, though they were better at hiding it.

Aria had noticed the problems they were having, but more concerning, to her, was the position of the sun. It was much lower than they'd predicted it would be, and the haven they were to spend the night at was not yet in sight.

When she looked at Cor and Caedus to voice her concerns, she saw the marshal already eyeing the horizon with a frown. "We have less than an hour to find shelter," he said, meeting her eyes for a moment before looking over at Iris and Talcott.

The boy blinked, his voice quivering a little even as he sat straighter, "Are the daemons going to come out?"

Iris took one hand off the reins to touch his shoulder. "I'm sure we'll be okay," she promised, though her eyes flicked up to the hunters and guards around her for reassurance.

Caedus didn't quite smile. "We'll have to move a bit faster."

Aria had a feeling that none of their companions relished the idea, but the alternative was becoming daemon chow, so they spurred the chocobos to a trot.

—

Even at their increased pace, the sun had fully set by the time the smoke from the haven came into sight. Talcott and Iris' chocobo had been moved to the centre while the others rode in a ring around them, eyes peeled for trouble.

Aria spotted it first.

"On our right!" she called even as Ivory shrilled his distress as a red giant and three bombs appeared from the trees near the group.

Dustin, riding ahead of her on the right side of the ring, swore. "Pick up the pace! We have to outrun them!"

One of the bomb's was starting to glow even as heels dug into feathers. Then it detonated, and the force of the blast knocked Aria, Dustin, Iris, and Talcott off their mounts as the chocobos stumbled and fell.

The red giant moved in, raising its sword, and Aria and Dustin barely scrambled out of the way in time. Aria saw Dustin favouring his left leg, which must have been under his chocobo when the bird fell.

She ran to Iris and Talcott as Caedus, Cor, and Monica jumped from their mounts and ran to engage the daemons. "Are you okay?" she asked, pulling Talcott to a sitting position.

"I-I think so..." He was shaking and looking at Iris, who was still lying on her side and looking dazed.

Aria grasped the woman's shoulder. "Iris, get up! We have to run!" She looked over her shoulder. The others were keeping the daemons busy, but she had no doubt that they had to move it.

After a few seconds, Iris managed to sit up, and then to stand with Talcott. Aria looked at Caedus and the others, but her teacher had chosen that moment to look at her. "Go!" he barked, "Get them out of here!"

She nodded, urging the two into a run. No time to call the chocobos back; the birds were high-tailing it for the haven themselves, spooked by the daemons. Instead, they full-on sprinted for the haven, Aria keeping an eye on the limping Dustin as they moved.

And then two alberichs were jumping at them, long claws swiping and catching Iris across the arm. She screamed and fell, and Aria jumped between her and the small daemons. Two swipes of her swords and the creature was down, but its fellow was lunging for her.

Iris surged forward, her uninjured arm coming around and punching the creature square in the nose. It staggered back, stunned, and Aria finished it off with one clean blow. She turned to Iris. "Can you still run?"

The younger Amicitia nodded, her free hand now staunching the blood from her wound. "Yeah. Let's go!" She nudged Talcott back into motion, and they continued their mad dash.

They reached the haven at last, and Ivory trotted to his rider, kweh'ing his fear. Aria took a moment to stroke his neck before withdrawing a potion to pour over Iris' wound. The younger woman flinched, but then sighed as the curative began its work. "Thanks," she said with a smile.

Aria smiled back before looking out to where they'd left the others. The glow from their fire-element enemies was gone, and she could see the flashlights borne on their clothing... two were moving very close together.

The reason became apparent when the three finally arrived. Caedus was leaning heavily on Cor while Monica led the way. The hunter's leg had a massive gash in the side that was bleeding freely.

"Caedus!" Aria was at his side in an instant as Cor laid him down, drawing out another potion and administering it even as her teacher tried to object. "None of that 'it's not that bad', old man. You're lucky the thing's still attached," she grumbled.

Once she was satisfied, she leaned back with a sigh. Cor was looking at Dustin. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, just a bit bruised."

Once they were sure everyone was okay, Cor let out a long sigh. "I thought we had more time..."

"We all did," Aria answered, frowning up at the stars. "We're losing daylight a lot faster than we figured."

Iris was sitting next to Talcott, trying to get a fire started. She paused to look up at them. "Do you think... I mean... you think my brother and Noct... and the others... are gonna be okay?"

Aria frowned. She'd had that concern herself, but she managed to smile. "I'm sure they're fine."

And if they weren't, she'd kick their asses.


	41. Separation

**After a bit of consideration, I decided to jump past the rest of their journey to Lestallum and get right to after Noct gets pulled into the crystal. Because I know you guys have been waiting so patiently for the juicy bits.**

#

It had taken far too long to get through the daemon horde, and getting past the doors that had sealed behind Noctis had tacked on yet more time. Ignis could still feel the aches from the wounds the daemons had inflicted, despite the potions they'd used. Still, he ran close behind Prompto and Gladiolus, guided by the sounds of their footsteps and the shadows he could just make out in the light of the corridor.

When the light suddenly became much more subdued, he almost collided with Prompto. The blonde steadied him, but something clearly had his attention.

"You..." the growl was Gladiolus, and Ignis stiffened. Something was wrong.

"Well, hello. It seems you managed to survive." The despicable purr was unmistakeable. Ardyn. "I'm sure Noct will be just thrilled... when he awakens, at least."

"Where is he?! What did you do to him!?" Prompto was nearly shouting, an anger colouring his voice that Ignis had never heard before.

"I did nothing," Ardyn growled in reply, and Ignis felt Prompto shift back. "You'll have to ask the crystal where your beloved king is."

This was too much for Ignis. And apparently, Gladiolus agreed with him.

"You _bastard_!" roared the Shield, and Ignis recognized the sound of a weapon being summoned and then the heavy grinding of a blade meeting flesh.

Then a gunshot. Prompto's fear of Ardyn did not outweigh his anger.

A weight landed on the metal he stood on, reverberating through it and up his legs. Had they killed him...?

Movement. Ignis took a step back as Ardyn began to chuckle. What kind of man withstood the fury that had surely come down on him?

"Well... good to know you still have spirit," said the chancellor, mere feet from Ignis' face. His footsteps began to retreat. "I'll see you all when the True King awakens."

And as Ardyn's footsteps faded into silence, Ignis heard Prompto's voice shaking. "What is that guy..."

"I don't care _what_ he is, as long as we find a way to kill him," snarled Gladiolus, and Ignis swore he could _hear_ the strain of bone, probably the Shield's fists clenching. "Whatever he did to Noct..."

"Calm down, Gladio." Ignis was impressed that his voice was steady. He summoned one of his daggers, but banished it a second later. "We can still summon our weapons... that means whatever's happened to Noct, he's still alive. We should pin our hopes on that."

"But where _is_ he?" Prompto had moved closer to him, clearly yearning for answers. "And what did Ardyn mean about the crystal?"

"I don't know," he confessed, fingers clenching around his walking stick. "The power of the crystal is key to defeating the daemons... perhaps Noct's disappearance has something to do with that."

"That's the best you've got, Iggy?" Gladiolus was still frustrated, and Ignis felt him brush past him before stopping. "Damn it... we shouldn't have sent him on alone..."

Ignis reached out, fingers bumping Gladiolus' arm before shifting to settle on his shoulder. "We had no other option..." He looked around, the sound of scrabbling claws reaching his ears. He doubted the daemons would come near the crystal, but that didn't mean they were safe. "We can't stay here."

"But Noct—" Prompto began.

"I know," he interrupted, feeling his throat closing at the mere _idea_ of leaving his prince behind. But wherever Noctis was, it was clear they couldn't help him right now. "But we can't do anything for him. We must take care of ourselves first, and Gralea isn't safe."

It was a tense few seconds, but then he heard Gladiolus sigh. "He's right. C'mon, Prompto. We gotta go."

The weight Ignis felt as they left the crystal chamber was greater than anything he'd ever had to bear in his life.

—

Re-tracing their steps was easy. The daemons seemed to have thinned out in the keep itself, though they still had to fight their way back to the place outside, where the train car had fallen and separated him and Gladiolus from Noctis. He felt Prompto pause beside him. "So where'd you guys leave the car?"

"Uh..." Gladiolus nudged Ignis with an elbow. The advisor sighed.

"Unfortunately, the Regalia was heavily damaged getting us here. We'll have to find a different way to get out."

"What!? You _broke_ the car?" cried Prompto.

"It was mostly Noct's fault." Gladiolus' voice was light, but a second later the weight was back as he'd reminded them of who they were leaving behind.

Ignis shook his head... but they had other problems. He could hear growls. A heavy thunk as something dropped onto the twisted metal frame next to them.

"Shit...!" Gladiolus hissed.

Ignis tensed, bracing himself for a fight. But a low hum had started up, and built until he recognized it as the engine of an airship.

Then the dark world lit up. A spotlight was shining down on them, so bright that Ignis had to close his right eye and shield it with his hand. He could heard shrieks and scrabbling as the daemons who'd been stalking them scattered.

A hiss of hydraulics, and then a familiar voice shouting over the engine noise. "You guys need a lift?"

Aranea Highwind. Ignis could have laughed if not for recent events.

"We'd be in your debt," he called back to her.

Gladiolus pulled him back by the shoulder as he felt the blast of air from the airship landing. Then the Shield guided him forward, up the ramp and into the dark interior of the ship.

As the doors hissed shut behind them, Aranea spoke again. "I was a bit worried, but I figured you guys made it when I didn't find your bodies with this thing."

Of course, Ignis couldn't see what she was talking about, but Prompto quickly filled in the blanks. "The Regalia! You found her! ... Holy _crap_ , guys, what'd you drive her through?!"

"Imperial cannon fire," Gladiolus deadpanned, his hand still on Ignis' shoulder to guide him over to a seat that was protruding from the ship's hull. Then his hand shifted; Ignis figured he had turned away. "Thanks for the pick-up."

"Don't mention it. I got Biggs and Wedge too; they're in the cockpit," Aranea assured. A momentary pause, and then, "I see they found you okay."

A humourless chuckle from Prompto. "Yeah..."

"What happened to His Royal Complainer?"

Silence.

"... Don't tell me he's dead." Ignis couldn't pick up whether she was worried or just surprised.

"No," he said quickly. "It seems the prophecy of the True King is going to take some time to come true..."

"... Well that's vague as hell," she scoffed. "I guess as long as you know he's still alive, we can't complain. We've got a whole heap of other problems, anyway."

The comment made something occur to Ignis. "Aranea... may I ask what time it is? The daemons are still out, and I didn't sense any sunlight when we were outside... I could have sworn we were in that keep through the night."

Another silence. When Aranea finally spoke, it was soft. "... Hate to be the one to tell you this, but it's nearly noon. The sun didn't rise this morning."

Ignis leaned back into the side of the ship, disquieted.

It had finally happened. Eos had lost daylight completely.

#

Next chapter, the reunion you've all been waiting for!


	42. Reunion

**I know a lot of you were excited for this chapter... sorry it took a bit of extra time, but I wanted to make sure I didn't disappoint!**

#

It was a long ride back to Lucis, though not as long as their original boat trip had been. Aranea was taking them to Lestallum, at Ignis' request. It seemed the best place to be, if daylight was truly extinguished. The power plant would keep the city bright for a long time yet.

And he confessed, internally at least, to wanting to be in his homeland during this crisis. To help the people he cared about. To make sure Aria was okay.

He was sitting with Prompto and Gladiolus in the back of the airship when he heard Aranea's voice over the constant hum of the engine. "We're about to set her down on the west side of the city. Don't want to get too close, but don't want to get swarmed by daemons either."

A buzz precluded the intercom coming to life, and Biggs' voice crackled through it, "Boss, we've got a bit of hostility goin' on below. Gonna set you down facing these folk so they can see we're not daemons or Magitek or anythin'."

The click of a button being pressed, and then Aranea's voice again. "That's fine, Biggs. Better not to put them any more on edge."

Ignis felt the shift and bump of the airship stopping its forward motion and beginning a descent. The mention of hostility had him frowning, and apparently he wasn't the only one, as just then Gladiolus chose to speak. "Imperial airship coming down on the city... doesn't surprise me that they're a bit antsy."

"Hopefully we'll see someone we know, and will be able to defuse the situation before anyone gets hurt," Ignis replied, reaching for his cane as the airship came to a tiny bump of a landing. Biggs and Wedge were good pilots.

He was appreciative of Prompto's hand steadying him as they moved to the back of the ship, though he moved away from it as the back doors hissed open. Light came in, and he shielded his face against it until he'd adjusted. In the time that took, he knew Gladiolus and Prompto had stepped in front of him, probably to confront the frightened people they were now facing.

"No need to be scared! We're the good guys!" Prompto called, a hint of nervous waver in his voice. Not the most reassuring of tones, but Ignis gave him points for trying.

Then a new voice, from beyond the ramp. "Prompto? ... Gladio!? Everyone, stand down, they're friendlies!"

No sooner had he recognized Aria's voice than there was a clattering of feet on metal and a weight collided with his chest. Only her arms going around him in the same moment prevented him from falling backwards. He couldn't stop himself from embracing her in turn with his free arm, feeling the tremble of her shoulders and gods, had she always smelled this good? A combination of a flowery shampoo and a hint of spice. He breathed her in and shuddered. "Aria..."

"Ignis," she whispered in turn, face pressed into his chest. She took a breath and pulled back slightly, though he was reluctant to let her go. "Sorry about the welcome wagon... imperial airship, kinda wanted to..." Her voice trailed off into nothing, and he felt her disengage completely from his hold. He knew what she'd seen even before her voice came again in a hoarse whisper, "Ignis, your _eyes_..."

He winced. The way she said it... "It's... a shock, I know," was all he could summon to say, though his words hitched in a little gasp when her fingers brushed his face, just under the worst of his scars.

"What _happened_?" Her voice was still hoarse, but the demand there was unmistakable.

He swallowed, resisted the urge to pull away from her touch. "An... incident, in Altissia. I wasn't as fast as I should have been."

"Altissia?" she echoed, her voice gaining strength and losing warmth as she pulled her hand from his face. "This happened in _Altissia_ and you didn't _tell me_?" He wanted to reach out to her, but the ice in her voice stopped him. "You can't see, can you?"

"... No." What else could he do but reply honestly in the face of such an accusation? As if he'd expected her to respond in any other way to being lied to.

For a few seconds, all he heard was her breathing as it hissed and gasped with the rise and fall of her emotions. Then, finally, she spoke in a mutter, "Look, I... I need to think. We'll talk about this, but... not here. I'll find you later." Another clatter as she took several steps away from them, and then, "Iris is at the Leville, working out places to stay for people forced into the city. She can help you guys." And then she was gone.

Ignis stood frozen for a long few seconds, and then he clenched his fist and raised it to press against his temple. "Damn it..." Unbidden, Cid's words from before they left for Altissia came to his mind:

 _Even if they can't solve your problems, you can't hide what's going on from them. It hurts like hell._

Maybe Noctis wasn't the only one who should've heeded that advice.

A soft klunk beside him, and his world that had narrowed to himself and Aria widened again in time to hear Aranea's voice. "You got blinded and didn't tell your girlfriend?" A breath hissed in between teeth. "Good luck with that, kid." He heard her step away from him, but she continued to speak. "We've gotta take off. There's gonna be a lot of people that need help... but if you need air support, gimme a call."

"Thanks," Gladiolus answered, reminding Ignis of his presence. "But before you leave, could you do us a favour and drop the Regalia off at Hammerhead? It's the best place for her."

"Sure thing. You guys take care."

And as the three of them descended the ramp, Ignis found himself wishing he could see, just for a moment, to see if Aria was still somewhere in the crowd.


	43. What He Feared

**Nice to see you guys sympathizing with both our silly, silly heroes. Sorry for the delay once again, these chapters are really not cooperating and I've been sick the last few days, but it's time to see what Aria thinks of all this!**

#

This was ridiculous.

Hours had passed since she'd left Ignis standing in the airship just outside Lestallum. It was approaching what had once been the regular night hours, though now there was no difference. She'd spent most of that time wondering if she could've handled that reunion better, or if she _should_ have.

A shock, Ignis had called it. No shit. Like finding out the man you were involved with had hid debilitatting, disfiguring injuries from you was ever anything but. She paced the length of her apartment, crossing and uncrossing her arms.

And then someone knocked on the door.

Aria frowned. Not many people knew this was where she lived now... she moved to the door, not bothering to grab her weapons from where they rested in the entryway.

And she was only slightly surprised to find Ignis at her threshold when she opened the door. He was fixing his dark glasses, but lowered his hand when the door was fully open. "Aria," he greeted.

Damn but she hated being caught off guard. "How'd you know where I live?" It wasn't like she'd had this place for a long time.

He gestured down the hall. "Iris told me where to look. One of your neighbours helped me find your apartment when I told him why I was here."

Her frown returned. "And why's that?"

"To apologize to someone I wronged." His gaze was more towards her now, not exactly on her face but close. "I _am_ sorry, Aria. I should have told you."

A few seconds of silence, and then she sighed. "Yeah, you should have." She reached out and took his hand, pulling him into the apartment. She let the door close and led him to the loveseat that was one of her few pieces of furniture. Once they'd sat down, she released his hand. "So why didn't you?"

He frowned, turning his face to the floor. One hand brushed under his scars. "I didn't want you to worry about me... about something you couldn't help with. But, more than that..."

As the silence from his unfinished sentence stretched on, she watched his face. His lips were pulled into a frown, and his right eye was closed tight. "... More than that, what?" she asked. Whether he wanted to tell her or not, she needed to know. Silence was not going to help them.

The worried lines of his face relaxed into exasperation. "It's ridiculous..." he muttered, fingers pushing his glasses up to rub his left eye. "And I know it helps nothing..."

"Ignis, tell me."

"I'm ashamed." The words came out in a quick burst, and Ignis turned further away from her immediately. For several seconds, all she could do was blink, but he continued on in a mutter, "I'm ashamed that I let this happen... that I let myself become a burden... and the last thing I wanted... the _last_ thing... was to become a burden on you."

... Okay, she wasn't expecting that. Certainly, his condition made him vulnerable on the battlefield, and the state of Eos only made that worse, but did that really change anything?

She knew she'd been quiet too long when he shifted further away from her, and reflex sent her hand out to his shoulder to stop him from getting too far. "You're not a burden."

He turned just enough for her to see the ghost of a sad smile on his face. "I know my limits, Aria. I know I'm not what I once was..."

"Well, _duh_." She rolled her eyes, realized he couldn't see it, and instead gave him a light swat on the arm. "Of course you're not, and I'm not expecting you to be exactly the way you were, but this..." She laid a hand on his face, forced him to look at her as her thumb traced the lower edge of his largest scar. "This is a change. It doesn't mean you're a burden."

His gloved hand rose, took hold of hers without moving it far from his face. "You think there's a chance to come back from this?"

She smiled... and then remembered again, so she turned her hand to properly hold his. "Sure there is. I can help you."

Now the smile on his face was stronger, more like himself. "And what about us?"

And she moved their joined hands down, leaning in to press her lips to his for just a second before drawing back. "You'll have to do more than get scarred up to scare me away, Ignis."

#

This took forever and it's not even that long I am so sorry.


	44. Practice

**And now we enter more that the game didn't show us: the ten years of darkness! Cue dramatic music! And hopefully they don't release a DLC that totally explains events in these years because wouldn't that make me look silly lol.**

#

The first few months were a nightmare. Without their regular maintenance, the power stations outside Lestallum began to fail, and outpost after outpost went dark. Fortunately, the power plant's employees had worked out how to predict which outposts would lose power next, and hunters were dispatched to them to evacuate the civilians as safely as possible.

They lost people, civilians and hunters both. Aria saw more daemons in these months than she had pretty much her entire life, which was saying something given her career choice.

It was after returning from a particularly nasty job, where three sets of tags were all that was left of people she'd known and trusted, that Caedus insisted she needed a break. They'd been working nearly nonstop; she hadn't had a spare minute to follow through on her promise to help Ignis.

And so it was with a great deal of persistence from her teacher than she sat out the next excursion. Instead, that morning (or what passed for it, by the clocks' reckoning) found her leading Ignis by the hand through Lestallum's increasingly crowded streets.

"You still haven't told me where we're going," he commented as she veered him out of the path of a refugee family carrying their belongings.

"And I won't until we get there."

She had a feeling he was pouting, but she didn't turn to look because really, which of them had reason to pout over keeping secrets here? She wasn't letting him live that one down, and he knew it.

It didn't take them much longer to reach their destination, and she led him up several floors until she found the training room of the old gym. "Okay, here we are."

"Well, looks amazing."

She eyed him and wasn't at all surprised to see a smirk on his face. "Alright, smartass. We're in a practice room Caedus and I used when we were in Lestallum sometimes. I asked the owner to lend it to me for a while."

His smirk turned to a frown as she released his hand. "And what do you intend to do here?"

"Kinda obvious, isn't it? You're gonna re-learn how to fight."

That wiped the smirk off his face, replacing it with a lips-parted look of surprise. "Aria..."

"Don't 'Aria' me. Just call your daggers." It had taken a while for them to speak of Noctis, but Ignis had shared with her the fact that still having the ability to summon his weapons meant the prince was still alive. And if Ignis was determined to be useful when Noctis returned, then Aria was equally determined to help him.

It took him a second to obey, but then the twin weapons materialized in his hands. He was frowning now. "You wouldn't rather use practice weapons...? I could hurt you."

The concern made her smile, but she shook her head. "Easier with your own weapons. You've got a lot of changes to get used to without your eyes, so feeling hilts and weight you're familiar with should help." She moved to the side of the door, flicking some switches so the dim light in the room suddenly went wildly bright, the many flourescents reflecting off the mirrors that lined one wall. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ignis flinch and raise an arm to cover his face. Oops. "Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you... you okay?"

Inch by inch, his arm lowered again. She was silently impressed he hadn't stabbed himself in his hurry to raise it in the first place. "Yes... just, sudden changes in light cause problems."

She nodded. "Yeah... Prompto told me you can sense light..." And had actually warned her about sudden, bright lights, but she'd forgotten it in all the time between then and now. "So how's your vision with all the lights on? Can you make out my silhouette?"

Another pause as he adjusted his glasses and focused on her. This close to him, she got a good look at his scars... and it caused an ache in her heart. The pain he had gone through, without telling her...

"In a way." His words broke her from her thoughts, and she looked up at him. "It's difficult to say... there are no details, but in this light it's the same as being in a near-pitch dark room with sight. There are shadows, and outlines."

The best vision he could get was considered the worst conditions for sighted people. She shook her head to clear the dark thoughts from it, drawing her swords. "Alright," she said, somehow managing to keep her emotions from showing too much in her voice, "That should give you a rough idea of how I move... we'll start slow today, focus on blocking and defending. See if you can follow my movements."

And she came for him, slow and deliberate, raising one sword over her head and then bringing it down at a fraction of the speed she would normally use... and Ignis' right dagger snapped up, blade catching blade.

He actually looked surprised to have achieved even that. She smiled. "Good. Seems you can still follow movement in the right lighting." Not that it would help him much outside of training. At least this room was closed off from light, so she'd be able to control the brightness until he was good enough to fight in the same conditions as the outside world was trapped in.

Disengaging their blades, she made a low swipe, which he again blocked. He was smiling now. "Seems so."

—

They continued for hours, Aria mixing up the speed of her attacks. By the end of it, she'd only nicked him a handful of times and they'd actually moved on to counter attacks, with a few cuts on her arms being the results of that.

Once she'd called it a day, she tossed him a towel, Ignis having shed his jacket and shirt somewhere in the middle of their training. She felt a little bad for not warning him to wear exercise clothes... but not bad enough to merit any guilt over the free show it gave her.

Dabbing at the sweat on her face, she eyed the bare flesh wounds his daggers had caused. Hardly worth noting, at the bare minimum force they'd been using. "Good start today," she said with a smile as he crossed to where she had a water bottle waiting.

"It will take a lot more work before I can be of any use, though," was his answer as she handed him the bottle and he took a long swig.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Negative." She patted his shoulder with a sigh. "C'mon, let's go back to my place for a shower and maybe I can get you to stop frowning so damn much."

Her words alone got a smile out of him, which she was pretty proud of. "I welcome you to try."

#

Long wait for a fairly uneventful chapter. I am so sorry, everyone. I swear we'll get to some meat and potatoes soon.


	45. Cruelty of Mind, Kindness of Heart

**Long chapter title is long. This chapter flat-out demanded to be written. So here's a bonus for you all!**

#

Darkness. And sound. Gunshots. Clashes of metal.

Screams that split the air like knives.

Ignis stumbled towards the noise, desperation fueling his steps. He was getting closer, the sounds were getting louder. Incoherent screams became words...

"Look out!" Gladiolus.

"Shit...!" Aria.

"NO!" Prompto.

"Ignis, we need you!" Noctis.

They were in trouble. He had to get to them. He _had_ to. He started to run, tripped, crashed onto his knees. Forced himself up, kept going. He couldn't hear gunshots any more.

"Prompto! _Prompto_!"

No. Oh, please, no.

One more scream. Two. Then silence. Awful silence.

He tripped again, and this time he felt something with the hand that went down to catch himself. Wet and warm... it was... it was...

"Gladio? Prompto...? Noct?!"

No answer. His fingers found the body next to the blood. An arm, a shoulder, a face...

"... Aria?"

He pulled his hand back. This couldn't be happening. He'd failed them. He'd failed them all.

"No... NO!"

—

"-nis, wake up! Ignis!" 

The waking world hit him like a slap to the face. Instinct jerked him away from the hand that was shaking him and moved him to the edge of the bed, almost dropped him off it. He sat up, his fingers seeking the mattress to affirm where he was. His breath wheezed and gasped, bordering on hyperventilation. His fingers were touching soft sheets. No blood. No bodies.

Touch returned, now an arm set around his shoulders. He flinched, but didn't pull away this time. "It's okay." Aria's voice. "You were having a nightmare."

Was that it? A bad dream? It wasn't his first, certainly, but... the screams reverberated in his head. He could still smell the blood, feel it on his fingers.

He realized he was trembling when Aria's hand tightened on his shoulder. He reached up to take it with his own, squeezing gently. He didn't trust himself to speak just yet.

The mattress shifted as she moved closer to him, their joined hands lowering so her arm was around his waist in a loose hug. "It was just a dream. You're okay."

Releasing her hand, he turned fully to her, and when she opened her arms, he willingly leaned into the embrace. His own arms went around her waist, clinging to her, feeling her warmth, her life. "It _felt_ real..." Gods, he was still shaking. When was the last time he'd let a nightmare affect him this badly?

Her fingers slid up his back, threaded through his hair. He sighed, pressed his face into the crook of her neck. "They do that..." she murmured against his hair, her lips pressing to his temple briefly. "You're okay."

The repetition made him smile, albeit weakly. Gods, it wasn't himself he was worried about right now. "I need to get past this, Aria," he whispered, sudden urgency giving determination to his words. "I need to improve. If you... if any of the others were in danger... and I couldn't help..." His breath shuddered on its way to his lungs, and he clung tighter to her. "I couldn't bear it..."

"Ignis..." Her hand slid around to the side of his face, the left side that wasn't pressed into her neck. "Ignis, you _are_ improving. You _will_ get past this." She kissed his temple again, then his cheek, right on the seam of his scar. "And I doubt an entire herd of garula would stop you if any of us ever needed your help."

That finally got him to smile, and he sighed, relaxing into her arms. "Flatterer."

"You're one to talk." She chuckled, drawing him back down into bed with her. "Now c'mon. You need your sleep."

And with her pressed close against his side, he felt safe from the nightmares.


	46. Call Out

**Wow, we're coming up on fifty chapters! Thank you all for sticking with me through this long, long journey!**

#

"Make for the haven! Go, go, go!" Gladiolus' bellow gave speed to the refugees, and Aria cut down a goblin whose claws were inches from a woman's leg. The swarm was led, if such things could follow, by a massive red giant whose sword Gladiolus was jumping in front of to block before it could get near the fleeing civilians.

Once the refugees were clear, Aria turned her full attention to the mob. She cleaved one goblin's head off and kicked another away before it could flank her. Gladiolus' greatsword swept aside four or five with every swing, but the red giant was still a problem. Aria dashed in, cutting at its legs and driving it to its knees. She jumped back, cutting down another goblin and cursing the little things for distracting her.

Gladiolus hacked away at the giant's side, though staggered himself as a goblin's claws slashed his leg. "Damn it!" He cleaved the thing in two and jumped back as the giant swung its free hand at him.

They were down to maybe half a dozen goblins. Aria cut down two more and looked up at the red giant. It was still down, but was trying to regain its feet... "Gladio!"

He glanced at her, saw her coming towards him at a run, and banished his greatsword. "Right!" Crouching, he cupped his hands just as Aria jumped, her right foot landing in his grasp. With all his strength, he threw her upwards and behind him, and she flew in an almost perfect arc to land on the red giant's back.

Once there, she charged up to the daemon's neck, stance low as it thrashed to try and throw her off. Her swords rose high and then plunged, piercing the thing's neck. They rose again, fell again, and the daemon bellowed before dropping completely. Aria jumped clear as it faded into energy.

Gladiolus had finished off the remaining goblins, and the two of them shared a grin before bolting for the haven as fast as their legs could go.

—

All six of the farmers they'd been guiding were safely on the runed rock when they arrived. Gladiolus eyed Tanin, the oldest farmer. "How're the goods?"

The man gestured to the bags lying in a neat pile near the fire: sacks of vegetables and dried garula meat. "Made it safe and sound, thanks to you two."

Aria sighed, smiled. These people had risked their lives by staying out at their farm until the fuel for their generators had run out, and now Lestallum would have more food thanks to them. "Get some rest," she advised. "We'll start moving again in five hours."

Tanin nodded, returning to the others, and Aria sat herself down on the edge of the haven before looking at Gladiolus. "How're you holding up?"

"Couple flesh wounds, nothing major." He sat down beside her and sighed. "Keeping all these refugees fed is a tall order..."

"I know. Cor's working on setting up a rotation of hunters to escort farmers out to the fields every week to tend and harvest... without sunlight, it's meager pickings, but it'll have to do." She leaned back on her hands, staring at the dark sky she was starting to hate. "When Wiz gets the chocobos settled in, it'll be easier."

"I'm amazed he managed to get so many of them to Lestallum... glad ours survived."

The old chocobo rancher had brought in a significant number of his birds, including the chocobos the guys had gotten used to, a little over a month earlier when the power to the post had gone out. They were still in the works of setting up a suitable shelter for the birds in Lestallum's main car lot. Aria was glad that Wiz was once more around to take care of Ivory, whom had stayed with her after the darkness fell.

She became aware that Gladiolus was still talking when he nudged her arm. "So how're things going with you and Iggy?"

The mention brought a smile to her face. "Well as can be expected. He's getting a lot better... we're considering going outside the city. Not too far, just enough to test him against real opponents."

Gladiolus frowned. "You're really serious about helping him, huh?"

"He wants to be useful again. With things how they are, I can't blame him... hell, he'll probably get better at it than we are. He's had more time to get used to the dark." As she spoke, she watched him out of the corner of her eyes. The more she said, the lower his face fell... "More importantly, what about _you_ and him?"

He flinched, turned away from her. "What d'you mean?"

It took effort not to roll her eyes. "Come on, Gladio, it's been almost a year. You think I haven't noticed? You and Iggy... you avoid each other. Prompto too. The three of you used to be attached at the hip, and now you go out of your way not to see each other. _Why_?"

The emphasis she put on the question made him flinch, but she didn't take her eyes from him for the long silence that followed. Eventually, without turning back to her, he muttered, "Four."

She knew what he meant. "... So... what? It's Noctis that kept you all together?"

"That's not it." He turned, not quite looking at her, but looking out into the gloom. "... You get used to it, y'know, being around the same people for so long. And now Noct's gone and it just doesn't... feel right. He shouldn't _be_ missing, Aria. Of the four of us, he's _not_ the one who was supposed to disappear..."

The tone of his voice... the look on his face... she frowned. "Gladio... do you blame yourself? For Noct being missing?"

He let out a shakey sigh, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Damn it... I don't know. All this stuff with the prophecy and the crystal... it's kinda above me. I like something I can see, can hit, and for Noct to just disappear... from the crystal, into the crystal, whatever... I just..." He scruffed a hand through his hair with a frustrated groan.

Aria reached out, laying her hand on his shoulder. "None of us really understand what's going on, Gladio. That's... not a reason to feel guilty. And it's not a reason to avoid your friends."

Finally, he looked at her, only the briefest glance, the smallest smile, before looking out again. "You talk to Iggy about this?"

"A lot. He says pretty much the same thing... except he adds that we can't lose faith that Noctis will come back. And he won't give me a reason for avoiding you and Prompto either." She hadn't meant that last to be an accusation, but she saw him wince anyway.

"I don't know... I guess there's no real reason for it."

"You should talk to them. I'm pretty sure it'd be good for all of you."

Another long silence, in which she finally broke her gaze from him and looked out into the darkness.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a little smile on his face. "Maybe it would."

#

So I know I'm not the only one frowny over Talcott telling Noct that his friends barely hung out in the dark decade. Therefore, Aria notices it.

On the one hand, I feel like this chapter is missing something. On the other, I'm sick of looking at it, so here you all go.


	47. Outing

**HI HELLO I'M SORRY PLEASE DON'T HURT ME. I swear I'll get back on the ball updating this as much as I can...**

 **How's everyone been? How'd you all deal with episodes Prompto and Ignis? I won't be deleting the Altissia chapters from this fic, mostly because I'm lazy, but I WILL be treating the events of Episode Ignis as canon for Lights, and it will lead to some changes in how the story progresses. Onwards!**

#

"Do you really believe I'm ready for this?" Ignis asked the question as he and Aria weaved through the crowds of Lestallum. He was walking without her assistance, relying on his remaining senses and what light his right eye could sense. It had been months since he'd used his cane.

"Do you feel ready?" Her voice came from a few feet ahead of him, and he adjusted course to keep up with her before contemplating her question. Their training had been going well; even Gladiolus had admitted so, training with him after returning from a mission with Aria. He _was_ getting tired of staying in the city while others risked their lives.

"I think so," was the answer he settled on as they broke out of the crowds and descended the ramp to the parkade. He recognized the smell of chocobos: a whole section of the lot had been given over to Wiz to take care of the birds.

As they stopped walking, he felt Aria's hand on his shoulder, saw her outline against the lights over the chocobo pens. "Then there's your answer," she said, her thumb brushing over his jacket with just enough pressure for him to feel it.

"Aria! You two headin' out?" Wiz's voice came along with Aria's hand lifting away as she turned to the caretaker. Ignis had to admit, he admired the man's cheer. It was becoming a rare thing these days.

"Yeah. A refugee group came in yesterday saying they'd passed an overturned delivery truck on their way in... they took what they could carry, but we'll be able to bring back more with the chocobos."

"No chance you could take the trucks out to it?" Wiz's voice only held the barest hint of hope. He knew, as did they all, how precious gasoline was in their new world. Most vehicle outings were reserved for getting between Lestallum and the few outposts that were still occupied, like Hammerhead.

"Not worth it," was what Ignis ended up saying, one finger nudging his protective shades further up his nose. "It's not that far from the city, and we've been told the truck veered quite a ways off the road before it crashed. We'll be able to get closer with the chocobos."

"Fair 'nough. Y'all get Ivory and Storm all set up, and I'll fetch ya some better saddle bags for the goods."

"Thanks, Wiz." Aria's voice carried her smile, and Ignis followed the sound of her further forward until the hard stone of Lestallum's parkade became the soft hay laid down for the chocobo stalls. From there, a familiar twitter led him to the door of Storm's stall, and he felt her beak in his hair almost instantly.

"Hello there, girl," he murmured, stroking her neck with one hand while reaching for the door latch with the other. "Ready to run on the grass for a change?" He'd practiced riding, Wiz helping to train Storm to follow Ivory in the absence of guidance from Ignis. This would be her first time out of the city, too. Once he had the door open, he ran his hand along the wall until he found her bridle, and Storm was nudging her head into his chest, eager to receive it as he fumbled to get it on properly. "Hey now, hold still..."

"Come on, Stormy. Be a good girl." The cooing came from Aria, and Ignis was sure that she touched the grey bird, because Storm stilled somewhat and allowed him to slip the bridle over her head. "There's a girl. You just settle down and—ow!"

Ignis looked up. "Are you all right?"

A hiss from the woman. "Yeah. Ivory just bopped me on the head... jealous featherbrain." He couldn't help chuckling at that as he led Storm out of her stall, and Aria's fist found his arm in a punch just hard enough to sting. "Shut up."

"Didn't say a word." Hiding the grin on his face by bowing, he made a sweeping gesture with his free hand. "After you."

"How very kind," scoffed the hunter as Ivory's claws thump-thumped past him. He followed with Storm, and heard Wiz's voice once they'd made the change from straw back to stone.

"Here's some good storage saddles for the birds. Hope ya'll can bring some good supplies back." Ignis felt the man at his side and moved with a grateful nod as Wiz secured the saddle on Storm's back.

"That's the idea." A shift, a small noise from Ivory, and Aria's voice came next from above him. She'd mounted. "Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be." He found the stirrup with one leg before swinging himself up to Storm's back, wavering a bit before finding his balance.

And the two of them rode off up the parkade ramp with Wiz calling good luck from behind them.

—

He could only imagine what the hunters manning the barricade thought of the blind man riding past on a chocobo, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Aria spurred them to a steady trot and all his focus went to following what light he could see from the flashlights attached to Ivory and Storm's harnesses. She'd drilled him in what they'd learned about how to survive: move fast, stay clear of choke points, always be on the look out for the nearest haven. He wouldn't be much use on the last one, but he wasn't surprised by the sudden turns Storm made to follow Ivory. He trusted Aria to keep them on the right path.

He heard something... maybe 'heard' was the wrong term. It almost sounded like bubbling, but the stronger sense was an immaterial one. One that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Damn! Ivory, go!"

Ignis tightened his hold on Storm's reins and gripped with his legs as she surged to a full sprint behind Ivory. Daemons must have manifested too close to them. He kept his head low and the reins loose, trusting Storm as she veered in pursuit of Ivory. Despite his faith, he still felt his heart in his throat when the chocobo jumped. The glide was brief, couldn't have been more than fifteen feet before Storm's claws hit grass again. She slowed down, almost back to a walk.

"You all right?" Aria asked from ahead. Ignis watched the faint shift of light that was the flashlight on her vest.

"Fine. Did we veer off course?"

"Only a bit... it's not far now."

Their trek resumed, and within a few minutes the birds came to a halt. Ignis stayed in his saddle until he felt Aria's hand on his leg. Then he swung down, allowed her to grip his shoulder until he had his footing on the new ground. "Let's hurry. Truck's upside down. I'll go in and pass out what I find."

"Very well." Ignis followed her until she put a hand on his chest to stop him. He could feel Storm's feathers near his head as she and Ivory stood warily by.

The truck had been carrying non-perishables: one of the early stock trucks trying to bolster the food supply. A few of them hadn't made it to Lestallum. Aria and Ignis had to tear open the boxes in order to divide the cans and packages into the saddle bags.

Then Ignis felt it again, a charge in the air as he was closing up one of Storm's bags. A moment later, the birds began to squawk in distress, scratching the grass.

The next thing he heard was Aria yelling. "Ignis, duck!"

Storm lept away from his side as he threw himself to the ground. Something whipped close enough to him that he felt the rush of air. Summoning his daggers, he slashed in that direction, rewarded with a screech as his blades bit flesh.

He regained his feet, felt Aria at his back. "Looks like some reapertails that've turned daemon... few goblins too. Fight fast. The longer we take—"

"The more that show up. I know." He broke from her side as he felt movement towards them. The next time his dagger met flesh, it was to the scream of a goblin. Claws caught at his arm and he twisted the blade until they went still. More movement to his side. He slashed, a glancing blow on what felt like exoskeleton. His other dagger came down blade-first, piercing through to the daemon's flesh. Didn't want to know what daemon reapertails looked like.

The noise of battle was a cacophony around him: daemon bellows, chocobo calls, and Aria's grunts of effort. He hadn't expected it to be so loud, and felt claws tear the back of his pantleg before he managed to turn and chop the offending goblin's arm off.

Aria screamed.

He whirled. He could only see two lightsources: the more powerful lights of the chocobo harnesses. Not Aria's flashlight. " _Aria_!"

No. No, no no...

"Behind you!"

Her voice was choked with pain, but he spun anyway, slashing low for their small enemies. His daggers hit nothing but air. "Aria, where are they?!"

"2 o'clock... couple feet from you!" It was taking too much effort for her to speak. How bad was it?

He clenched his teeth, reached into his jacket for one of the crafted spheres. Royal magic. He smashed it between his hands, felt the blizzard magic release and forced it down into his daggers, extending their blades. Then he spun, daggers extended, feeling the frost form on his skin. Death shrieks filled his ears. Then silence.

"Y-you got them..."

He banished his daggers, turned. There was light on the ground now... he moved to it, winced when he felt his foot hit something and heard Aria groan. He knelt. "What happened? Where are you hurt?"

"My side... the reapertail..." His hand touched her shoulder, felt her shaking. Fingers slid down until they found the wound: a gash wider than what he knew the reapertail's stinger to be. They must have expanded with the infection.

"How do you feel?" Reapertails were supposed to be non-venomous, their poison sacs shrunk over time as their body size grew. Would that hold for the daemon version?

"Not... so good. Tried a potion... bleeding slowed..."

"You may need an antidote. They're in the bags, aren't they?"

"Ignis, there isn't time... nearest haven's to the north... gotta get back on the chocobos..." She pulled away from him, trying to rise. Then she slumped forward against his chest. "Damn it...!"

She was losing strength fast. Too fast. If she fell from Ivory's saddle, she might not have the strength to call out to him...

Ignis pulled her to her feet, dragged her arm over his shoulders as he used an arm around her waist to put pressure on the wound with one hand. "Lead me to the haven."

"Ignis..."

"Just tell me where to go."

"Damned stubborn..." Whatever she would have called him ended up as a hiss. "10 o'clock. It's uphill, so watch it."

"Lean on me." It didn't seem like she had a choice. As they moved, he had to pull her back to her feet several times. He could feel one bird, probably Storm, moving beside him. Based on the light he could see, Ivory was next to Aria.

It felt like way too long before Aria spoke again. "Almost there..." She sounded far weaker... he bit his lip, walking faster even though it meant he was almost dragging her.

Another unnatural charge in the air. No...!

"Arachne...!" Aria's voice was filled with more fear than he'd ever heard from her. "Ignis, let me go!"

"No! You're too weak to fight!"

The presence at his side vanished, angry squawks mingling with daemonic screeches. Ivory and Storm...!

Couldn't think about that now. He swore he could make out the faintest light that wasn't their own. It was blue. He bent his knees, yanked Aria's arm until he felt her torso over his shoulders. Forced himself up and _bolted_ for what he hoped and prayed was the ramp toward the haven.

Stone under his shoes. He kept moving even as the arachne shrieked, and then claws clacked on the stone behind him. The chocobos had been driven to flee.

The ramp levelled off. There was definitely blue light beneath him now. Another shriek from the arachne. The prey had escaped. They were safe.

A groan from the woman on his back. She wasn't safe yet. He dropped to his knees, pulling her from his shoulders and carefully supporting her head in his arms. "Can you hear me?"

"Y-you... could've gotten yourself killed..."

"Better than leaving you to die in my stead." The light of the haven's runes gave him some idea of where the chocobos were. He couldn't see if they'd been injured by the arachne, but that wasn't the priority. "Storm, here."

He felt the weight of her as she settled next to him, and the hand that wasn't supporting Aria rummaged in her forward saddle bag. Never was he more grateful for the slight shape differences that made antidotes distinct from potions or elixirs.

Finding the wound again, he administered the curative over it, felt Aria shudder. "Burns..." she hissed.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. Reapertail venom... _daemon_ reapertail venom... would a standard antidote even work? Would it give her back enough strength to get back to Lestallum?

Seconds passed. Minutes. Ivory laid down next to Storm. Aria's wound had stopped bleeding, but her breathing hadn't evened out. Her brow was feverish when he touched it.

"Talk to me. Please." Wished he could keep the fear out of his voice. No chance of it.

She shifted in his arms, a shaky inhale turning into a groan. "I f... feel... awful..."

"You'll be okay. Give it time to work." Please let this just be because of the delay in using the antidote. She had to make it. He wouldn't let her leave him.

"H-hey... Iggy...?"

His hold tightened. "Yes...?"

"Just... I... you know..." Her face rested against him. He could feel the heat of her fever through his shirt. "... I love you."

His breath hitched. His heart _ached_. "Aria, please..." She couldn't say that. Not now. Not as if it was the last thing she'd say to him... "Don't. Please."

A bare huff that might have been a laugh. "G-gee... not... not the answer I expected..." Fingers brushed his shirt, gently close into the fabric. "Guess you don't... need to answer. Just... thought I should say it... y'know, if..."

" _No_." He moved his hand to her face, brushed his thumb over her cheek. Not enough. He leaned down, kissed her forehead, her cheek, her lips. Everywhere he could reach as he engulfed her in his arms. "Don't even say it. You'll be _fine_."

Control wasn't easy. He felt tears burn his right eye, slip down his cheek. "I'll give you my answer when you've recovered. So don't you dare die on me."

#

Small footnote to apologize if the last part is rushed. It's 2 in the morning and I'll probably spot a thousand errors when I wake up. But here you go everyone!


	48. Answer

**New year, new resolution! And that resolution is to get back on my writing horse and consistently update this and all my other fics! Wish me luck!**

 **(I may or may not be binge watching Criminal Minds, so if anyone's a fan of that one, get ready for a fluffy 'Let Spencer Reid Be Happy' fic in the near future. Because I don't have enough to do, right? ... On the same note please forgive any tonal issues in this one. Keeping character voices clear in my head is tough sometimes)**

#

She didn't remember falling asleep. Or passing out. Whichever it had been. Actually, she didn't remember much of anything past the burning of fever and the terror of being defenseless.

As consciousness returned, the first thing Aria became aware of was the arms around her, and when she opened her eyes, she saw Ignis above her, alert in the darkness. His focus as she moved in his hold, his attention shifting to her. "Aria?"

"Mmm... yeah, I'm up." Rubbing her eyes, she made an effort to sit up. It was harder to accomplish than she'd expected, but Ignis supported her until she managed to stabilize herself and look around. They were on a haven, the runes glowing beneath them, and Storm and Ivory were laying on either side of them. From where she sat, Aria could see a stain on one of Storm's saddlebags... it looked like blood. She looked at Ignis. "What happened?"

His brow creased, and he frowned before he spoke. "What do you remember?"

She moved a hand to push hair from her eyes, glanced down at the tear in her shirt. The wound was still visible, though closed, the skin around it faintly red. Her gaze returned to him. "The reapertail got me... um... you finished them off..." Her fingers moved from her hair to press against her temple. "Did I yell at you?"

Absurdly, Ignis chuckled a little. "Maybe you thought you were yelling, but no." He took her hand away from her head to hold with his own. "Storm and Ivory delayed an arachne while I got you here. You've been unconscious for over an hour."

That explained the blood stain and why she felt like she'd been trampled by a behemoth, then. She squeezed his hand. "Well... could've been a lot worse. Thanks, Ignis."

"No need for gratitude." A moment of silence, and Aria found herself eyeing him. What wasn't he saying?

"Did something else happen?"

"Hm?" He came out of whatever trance he'd been in, free hand scruffing his hair. "Not really..." Despite his blindness, it seemed like he was avoiding eye contact. "So... you don't remember what you said to me?"

Aria frowned, tilted her head. "Iggy, I don't even remember what volume I was using. Why?"

And just like that, he regained composure and smiled. "Nothing, nevermind." His grip on her hand shifted, body tensing in preparation to stand. "Do you feel strong enough to ride? We should get back."

He was so hiding something from her. And it took a good five seconds for her to realize that the scowl on her face had absolutely no effect on him. She sighed, tightening her hold on him. "Yeah. Don't want anyone thinking we croaked out here."

Ignis stood, and she let him pull her up as well. When she swayed on her feet, his other arm went around her to keep her steady. "Steady... you sure you're all right?"

Was she? She eased herself off his support bit by bit, testing her balance. Her head still felt light, and her muscles ached, but after a minute she was able to stand on her own, the only connection between them being their joined hands. "Yeah," she answered, finally, "I think I can handle it."

He squeezed her hand before letting her go. Ivory and Storm were already standing, Ivory moving to nudge Aria's chest and arm as soon as Ignis moved away from her. She stroked the bird's neck with a smile. "I'm okay, buddy. You did good, y'know?" He trilled as she scratched his chin. "Gotta stop being such a big tough bird. You'll put me out of a job."

Ignis laughed softly, and she looked up to find him already on Storm's back. "I'm sure he'd rather you not have a job that involves so much danger."

She grinned, stepping to Ivory's side so she could mount. Once on his back, she stroked his neck. "Nah, that's not true, is it, boy? You were born to laugh at danger, just like me." Not that giant, poisonous arachnids were something to laugh about. But, details. She looked at Ignis. "Ready to go?" 

"Whenever you are."

"Cool. At least we can just run from anything that tries to kill us on the way home."

—

As it turned out, the chocobos did get a good workout on the return trip, outrunning a red giant, several goblins and goblin-variants, and an arachne (probably the same one from earlier, pissed about missing a meal). By the time they made it back to Lestallum, the birds were tired, and Aria was so sick of riding she wanted nothing more than to go to her apartment and fall face-first on her bed.

But Ignis had other ideas.

"Whether you _feel_ fine or not, you've got to see a doctor," he was saying as they descended the ramp towards the makeshift stables.

"Ignis, come on, all the doctor's gonna do is tell me to go home and rest." She groaned and pulled Ivory to a stop. "Can't we just skip the middleman?"

Storm reached Ivory's side before she stopped, too, and Ignis' shoulders heaved with a sigh. "Aria, please, do this for me. We've no idea what sort of effect reapertail venom could have."

"What's all this talk about poison?" The new voice turned Aria's head toward the stable: Holly was walking out, followed by Wiz. The engineer's eyes lit up when she caught sight of them. "Well, look who's back! We were startin' t'get worried about you two."

"Almost sent out a search party," agreed Wiz, reaching them as Aria dismounted... not as smoothly as she'd hoped to, and the old chocobo rancher frowned. "You all right there, Aria?"

"She was poisoned by a reapertail," Ignis answered before the hunter could even open her mouth, and she sulked in his direction, though he was cut off by chocobo feathers as he dismounted.

"Reapertail?" Holly frowned, turning toward him as he stepped around, holding Storm's reins. "I thought they weren't poisonous?"

"They aren't, normally," said Aria, wishing she could shut Ignis up with a look since she didn't have the will to kick him at the moment. "Apparently being daemon-infected changes that a bit."

"Damn..." Wiz rubbed the back of his neck and cast a worried look over the stables. "So anythin' can just up and get turned into a daemon...?"

"I doubt it's that spontaneous. It's been over a year now, so it's not too surprising that animals stuck in the wildlands have started changing." Ignis had his 'thinking frown' on, and Aria had hopes that it would distract him from pestering her about medical attention.

He squashed that hope a second later, though. "Holly, would you escort Aria to the hospital, please? Once I've helped Wiz unload the supplies we were able to retrieve, I'll be going to talk to the marshal about the threat of infected wildlife."

"Sure thing, I'll take care of her." Holly smiled at Ignis, patting his arm before turning her eyes to Aria.

At least she could sulk at Holly. "I don't need taking care of."

"But you do need to be examined." Ignis stepped around Holly, their arms bumping before he corrected his course and stepped in front of Aria. And fine, maybe she was a bit impressed when he touched her cheek without needing to feel around for it. "Please indulge me in this, dear. I'll meet you back at home."

He kissed her forehead, and she frowned, one hand coming up to touch his. She'd really scared him... Damn. "Alright, fine, but if all I get is told to go take a nap, you owe me dinner."

He smiled. "I can accept that."

—

Turned out doctors took non-venomous creatures turning into venomous daemons pretty seriously. Like, check temperature, draw blood, request statement of recalled symptoms type seriously. By the time Holly escorted her back to her apartment building, Aria had spent almost an hour at the hospital and was really resenting Ignis being right.

"You take it easy now," Holly instructed as they reached her door. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, Hol, if Ignis has his way I'll be on bedrest for a week. Thanks for walking me back." She gave her friend a grin and waved her goodbye before stepping into her apartment... which was surprisingly dark. "Ignis...?"

"In the bedroom," came the reply. Okay then. She set her weapons aside at the entrance and headed down the short hallway to the bedroom. The door was open, but the light wasn't on. Instead, the room was lit by several candles on the dresser, the attached mirror bouncing the light over the room. Ignis was sitting on the edge of the bed facing the door. "What did the doctor say?"

She pulled her eyes from the candles to focus more on him. "Uh... said things seem okay, but if I start getting a fever again or feeling dizzy I should go back." Not knowing where else to be, she sat beside him on the bed, set her hand on his thigh. "He also said you were right to ask me to go there, with an unknown poison and all."

"I just wanted to be sure..." His hand settled over hers, closed around her fingers. "I was... afraid. When it took so long for the antidote to work, for you to wake up... " Both his hands moved to hold hers. She felt the shudder that ran through his body. "I was afraid I'd lose you."

She didn't know what to say to that. Instead, she moved closer to him, raising her free hand to caress his cheek. The breath of his sigh ghosted over her wrist as he leaned into her touch. His hands were shaking. Just slightly, but it hurt to know he'd felt that way. Felt that fear.

There was no thought involved when she leaned in and kissed him, her hand moving around to the back of his neck like the most natural thing in the world. His hands stopped shaking, lifted away from hers in order to go around her, pulling her close.

She half expected him to move from her lips to her neck, but then he pulled back, rested his forehead against hers. "I love you too."

"... You what?"

He smiled, leaned back again so he could draw her into a proper hug, her head against his shoulder. "Before you fell asleep... you said it. That you loved me. I promised you an answer when you recovered."

So that was what he'd been hiding. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. "Did I really? I don't know if saying it while poisoned should count..."

She felt, more than heard, his laugh, his chest shaking. "Do you want to take it back?"

A grin split her face, and she kissed his neck. "... No, but I'd like a re-do." Her fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt. She inhaled, filling her nose with the scent of him. "I love you, Ignis."

His lips pressed to her forehead again, warm and affectionate. "And I love you, Aria. It should not have taken me this long to say it."


	49. Upkeep

**I'm going to stop making hopeless goals for updating this thing. Just gonna keep on keepin' on and thinking WAY too much about the actual effects the dark decade would have on the general population. So if you like a whole bunch of pedantic details sprinkled through random chapters apparently updating once a year... congratulations!**

 **(I am so sorry)**

 **I'm also contemplating rewriting the Leviathan shitshow chapter of this fic, but... what would I change it to? Episode Ignis pretty well covered it... hm. Probably shouldn't think about that when I'm already godawful at updating, huh?**

#

"Hammerhead in sight!" Prompto's slightly-crackled declaration through the truck's radio actually made Aria sigh in relief. They'd been driving for the better part of the day (useless as that term was), and it had been a damned harrowing experience with only one vehicle, the one ahead of theirs, equipped with high-powered headlights to drive the daemons off the road. Four times, they'd been attacked from the sides before they could get away. Yosef, manning the gun mounted to the roof of the cab in Prompto's truck, had been injured and relieved by Holly, and they'd lost a few of the meteor shards they were transporting. But they were still alive, and with enough shards left to power Hammerhead's generators for a long while.

Beside her, Ignis let out a long sigh of his own, leaning back in his seat. "I was starting to think we'd never get there."

"It always feels like forever," she agreed, slowing down so the gates of Hammerhead's barrier fences could be opened. She followed Prompto's truck in, pulling to the side to be as close to the generators as she could get.

As soon as they got out, Aria saw Cindy jogging out of the garage. "Good to see ya! Y'all okay?"

"In one piece, at least." A glance to her other side as Prompto, Holly, and Yosef approached from the other truck, and Aria amended, "Yosef took a bad hit, though. He might need somewhere to sit down a while."

He waved her off barely a second after she'd finished talking. "I can sit down after we've unloaded the shards. Potion's mostly fixed me up anyway."

"Shouldn't be so light about nearly having your arm taken off, man. Take a load off in the garage, we got this." Prompto gave Yosef a gentle push to punctuate the instruction before stepping around to open the tailgate of the truck with a grin at Cindy. "Dropped a few on our way here, but these should keep you going for a long time."

"'ppreciate it, Prompto." Cindy grinned back at him even as she pulled one of the long, faintly-glowing stones from the bed of the truck, letting Prompto take the weight of one end before pulling it the rest of the way so the two of them could carry it towards the generators.

Holly was a few steps behind them. "Can't load any of 'em in til I check the system, though. This thing's overdue for a check-up."

Aria watched them go, and Yosef reluctantly wander into the garage, with a frown. "You know," she said as she hauled out the second shard, "if you'd told me two years ago that I'd be delivering meteor shards to Hammerhead under threat of daemon murder, I'd have laughed."

Ignis took the back end of the shard and they followed Prompto and Cindy to the storage shed for the energy sources. "It's hard to believe how long it's been since we saw daylight," he agreed, a heaviness in his voice that she'd come to expect any time they talked about the state of their world.

They lowered the shard to the ground next to the other one, and no one said more as they unloaded the rest of their cargo.

—

When the job was done, and Yosef had grumped his way into helping Holly with the repairs on the generator, Aria and the others went to the diner. As they sat down with their drinks in one of the booths, Cindy smiled at them. "Thanks for bringin' the shards out. I'll get the new headlights into the other truck before y'all head back to Lestallum, and..." She reached into the pocket of her overalls, handing a pair of chains over to Aria. "These're Mal and Tristan's tags... finally found 'em a ways out in the wilds."

Aria eyed the pressed metal a while after taking them into her hand. Then, sighing, she tucked them into her own pocket. "Thanks, Cin." Two more hunters dead. Just keeping everything running cost lives... even with the remnants of the Kingsglaive and the Crownsguard helping, and civilians stepping up to train in arms, it wasn't easy.

"How're things back in the city?" Cindy broke through her morbid turn in thought. "Heard y'all finally made contact with Altissia."

"We did." Ignis took over the conversation, and his hand dropped to rest on Aria's leg. He had a sixth sense for when her thoughts turned dark, she swore. She rested her hand over his, squeezing gently in thanks, and he smiled even as he continued. "For some time, we were afraid the damage from Leviathan had left them vulnerable to daemons, but it seems the dams providing their power have given them enough light to be a sanctuary like Lestallum."

"Won't be able to do much except talk to them for a while. It's too dangerous to cross the ocean, even for Aranea's airship these days." Prompto leaned on the table, stirring his coffee a few times before he smiled. "It's nice to know we're not the only ones out there, though."

That was true. So many cell towers had been destroyed, especially in Altissia, that communication had been impossible. When the team who'd been working on it had reported success... it was one of the precious few things they had to celebrate. Aria smiled at the thought. "It does lift people's spirits... they want to feel like we're having victories. It's why Iris has been pushing for active hunts against daemons."

Cindy's brow shot up. "Is that worth it? Ain't gonna get far without daylight to keep 'em gone."

"It's still better than doing nothing," Ignis said before Aria could answer, lowering his cup to the table. "It's important to give people hope... to remind them we aren't helpless."

Aria nodded. "It's a battle for morale, more than anything. We don't know how long we'll have to wait."

Already, almost two years had passed. And it would not be a matter of surviving, but of making sure the world remained in a state that saving it still meant something when Noctis returned.

#

Bit of a nothing chapter, just finishing up a few establishing bits before we start making jumps through the dark decade, because heck knows I'm not writing out all ten years.


End file.
